Trauma and Memory Four-monthly European Review of Psychoanalysis and Social Science 2020, Volume 8, Number 2 (August) ISSN 2282-0043 www.eupsycho.com – email <[email protected]> David Meghnagi, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief Claudia Gina Hassan, PhD., Co-editor Associate Editors Enzo Campelli (University of Rome, Rome) Jorge Canestri (International Psychoanalytic Association, Rome) Charles Hanly (International Psychoanalytic Association, University of Toronto) Paolo Migone (Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, Parma) Shalva Weill (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem) Editorial Board Center and South America Italy Victoria Elena Castañon Garduño (International Psychoanalytic Jacqueline Amati-Mehler (International Psychoanalytic Association, University of Mexico) Association, Rome) Juan Pablo Jiménez (International Psychoanalytic Association, Marianna Bolko (Co-editor, Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, Universidad de Chile, Santiago) Bologna) Adela Leibovich de Duarte (International Psychoanalytic Franco Borgogno (International Psychoanalytic Association, Association, University of Buenos Aires) University of Turin) Canada Alessandro Bruni (International Psychoanalytic Association, Alain Joseph Goldschläger (University of Western Ontario, Rome) London, Canada) Donatella Cavanna (University of Genoa) Europe Roberto Cipriani (Roma Tre University, Rome) Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacob (Jagiellonian University, Krakow) Paolo D’Angelo (Roma Tre University, Rome) Toman Brod (Former Member, Czechoslovak Academy of Mario Fulcheri (University G. D’Annunzio, Chieti) Science, Prague) Pier Francesco Galli (Founder and Co-editor, Psicoterapia e Dieter Bürgin (International Psychoanalytic Association, Scienze Umane, Bologna) University of Basle) Fiorella Kostoris (La Sapienza University of Rome) Patrizia Giampieri-Deutsch (International Psychoanalytic Girolamo Lo Verso (COIRAG, University of Palermo) Association, University of Wien) Brunello Mantelli (University of Turin) Johannes Lehtonen (International Psychoanalytic Association, Marco Marchetti (International Psychoanalytic Association, University of Kuopio, Finland) University of Molise, Campobasso) Andrea Peto (Central European University, Budapest) Giacomo Marramao (Roma Tre University, Rome) Ben Rosenbaum (International Psychoanalytic Association, Micol Meghnagi (Europa Ricerca ONLUS, Rome) University of Copenhagen) Paolo Montesperelli (La Sapienza University of Rome) René Roussillon (International Psychoanalytic Association, Alessandra Mura (Clinical psychologyst, Rome) University of Lyon) Anna Maria Nicolò (International Psychoanalytic Association, Michael Shafir (University of Cluj, Romania) Rome) Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke (IHRA, Danish Institute for Adolfo Pazzagli (International Psychoanalytic Association, International Studies) University of Florence) Wichert ten Have (IHRA, University of Amsterdam) Emanuele Rossi (Roma Tre University, Rome) Sverre Varvin (International Psychoanalytic Association, Sergio Salvatore (University of Salento) University of Oslo) Ambrogio Santambrogio (University of Perugia) Germany Gennaro Saragnano (International Psychoanalytic Association, Ilse Grubrich-Simitis (International Psychoanalytic Rome) Association, Königstein) Frediano Sessi (University of Brescia) Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber (International Psychoanalytic Amedeo Stella (International Psychoanalytic Association, Association, Sigmund-Freud-Institut, Frankfurt) University of Bari) Heinz Weiss (International Psychoanalytic Association, Ines Testoni (University of Padua) Sigmund-Freud-Institut, Frankfurt) Annalisa Tota (Roma Tre University, Rome) Israel Luciano Violante (Former President, Italian Parliament, Rome) Uri Cohen (Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv) USA Yaron Harel (Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv) Judith Kantrowitz (International Psychoanalytic Association, Miriam Meghnagi (Clinical Psychologist, Musicologist, Tel Aviv) Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts) Dina Porat (Yad Vashem, University of Tel Aviv) Steven Katz (IHRA, Boston University) Maurice M. Roumani (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Jeffrey Praeger (International Psychoanalytic Association, Abraham Yehoshua (University of Haifa, Tel Aviv) University of California, Los Angeles) Sponsored by: Europa Ricerca ONLUS Department of Education, Department of Philosophy Communication and Show, Roma Tre University, Rome International Master on Holocaust Studies, Roma Tre University, Rome Laboratory of Clinical Psychology and Applied Psychoanalysis, Roma Tre University, Rome Fondazione Museo della Shoah, Rome Società Psicoanalitica Italiana (SPI), Associazione Italiana di Psicoanalisi (AIPsi) Webmaster: Roberto Peron (IAPS-INAF) Registered at the Court of Rome on Nov. 8, 2012, no. 305/2012 (Iscrizione al Tribunale di Roma n. 305/2012 dell’8 novembre 2012) Trauma and Memory, 2020, Volume 8, no. 2 (August) www.eupsycho.com – ISSN 2282-0043 Table of Contents Paolo Montesperelli Memory in Social Research 87 Marina D’Amato Childreen, TV Spots, and Snaks [Bambini, spot e merendine] 97 Shalva Weil Two Global Pandemics: Femicide and COVID-19 110 Claudia Gina Hassan The Holocaust at School, between Remembrance and Oblivion 113 Special Section: Year 1938 and Italian Universities Section Editors: Tommaso Dell’Era and David Meghnagi Tommaso Dell’Era, David Meghnagi Introduction to Special Section: The “Racial Laws” of 1938 and Italian Universities. The Universities of Perugia, the Institute of Roman Studies, and the Rome High School “E.Q. Visconti” [Introduzione all’inserto speciale: Le “Leggi Razziali” del 1938 e l’Università Italiana. Le Università di Perugia, l’Istituto di Studi Romani e il Liceo romano “E.Q. Visconti”] 122 Simona Salustri Perugia and its University. Persecutions of Jews in 1938 124 Gabriele Rigano The University for Foreigners of Perugia and the Anti-Semitic Laws of 1938 136 Donatello Aramini A Racist and Anti-Semitic Romanità: The Racial Laws of 1938 and the Institute of Roman Studies 161 Romana Bogliaccino Researches and Teaching Experiences on the Fascist “Racial Laws” in High Schools: A Case Study of the Lyceum “E.Q. Visconti” of Rome 197 86 Memory in Social Research Paolo Montesperelli* Abstract. The first part of the present study refers to the way in which some memory limits negatively affect the data faithfulness in social research. Then, a distinction is made between faithfulness, trust-worthiness and reliability, arguing that memory plays a crucial role also in the other two important requirements of empirical research. Finally, the symbolic nature of memory is analyzed – i.e., its close osmosis with the dimension of meaning – and emphasized other effects on social research. Keywords: Memory; Meaning; Social research. In the Dialogue on science Theaetetus (191c8-195a9), Socrates compares the experiences etched in memory to the engravings on a wax tablet, the writing system of the time. Over time, the number of memory-related similes has grown: memory as a warehouse (Aristotle and Saint Augustine), a palace or a garden (mnemotechnies), an original tabula rasa (Locke), a narrowing bottle neck (Renaissance1), a photo album, a magnetic tape, a software, etc. The basis of these different similes is still the symbolic nature of that writings / memories etched in wax. At the same time, the idea of memory as a delimited space has stood out: a space on which the experienced reality is imprinted in an approximately faithful way, precisely according to those limits. The first part of the present study takes the same interpretative approach. That is, it refers to how some memory limitations negatively affect empiric investigation, particularly data faithfulness in social research. Then, I will distinguish between faithfulness, trust-worthiness and reliability, – arguing that memory plays a crucial role not only in faithfulness but also in the other two important requirements of empirical research. Finally, I will return to the symbolic nature of memory – i.e. its close osmosis with the dimension of meaning – and emphasize other effects on social research. 1. Memory and data faithfulness “Memory errors” constitute a very complex field. Schacter (2001) classified them into seven categories. The same “magic number” (Miller 1956) is also found in the seven ways of forgetting recorded by Assman (2016). Similarly, seven are the reasons that erase, mystify, or distort memories, according to Gobo (2015, 67). Memory (with its “errors”) can play a significant role on the researcher’s role. For instance, one could think of the empirical basis creation, the legitimacy of research (“context of justification”), the availability of results etc. For example – in the context of ethnographic research – the notes or diaries used by the researcher to jot down observations, feelings, ideas and intuitions could be distorted if he remembered events that corroborate a prior interpretation, and forgot others that contradict it. The passage of time as well might cloud the memory. To avoid this, the Lynds (1929, 1937) would take notes immediately after any contact with the inhabitants of Middletown, and would even report on accidental conversations. However, the concept of “faithfulness” usually refers to the interviewee. * Full Professor of “Sociologia dei processi culturali e comunicativi”, Dipartimento di comunicazione e ricerca sociale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Via Salaria 113, 00198 Rome, Italy, e-mail <[email protected]>. 1 See Assmann (2016/2019, 11-3, 61-3). Trauma and Memory, 2020, Volume 8, no. 2, pp. 87-97. DOI: 10.12869/TM2020-2-01