I media nella costruzione della memoria: la pluralizzazione del ricordo

The article aims to explore the relevance of the role of mass media in the narration and re-construction of the past, with the awareness of how they have become crucial in configuring the collective memory frameworks, even on a planetary scale. The rise of the ‘memory boom’ may be explained in the light of communication technologies, which, on the one hand, allow the preservation of traces of the past and, on the other, guarantee its visibility and dissemination. The recognition that media are today among the main actors and interpreters – if not real ‘activators’ – of memory in the public sphere underlines their potential but does not exempt us from also considering the implicit risks. Thus, the appearance in the media sphere of memories considered marginal or condemned to oblivion is counterbalanced by a possible trivialization and/or decontextualization of them, sometimes transferring to the individual the responsibility of assigning them meaning, relevance, and, finally, continuity.