Memory Literacy
Memory literacy is an emerging concept situated at the intersection between memory studies and media literacies, seeking to understand how individuals interpret, construct, and participate in the production of narratives about the past in contemporary contexts. The emergence of the concept can be associated with the work of Pedro Lopes, who defined it as the critical capacity to analyze mediated representations of memory, particularly in the field of audiovisual fiction, highlighting its role in the construction of social memory. Subsequently, the concept was developed and expanded by Valdemir Santos Neto, who framed it within digital environments and contemporary circulation dynamics, proposing a more structured and operational approach.
| Memory Literacy | |
|---|---|
| Definition | Critical capacity to understand, interpret, and produce memory practices in media and digital contexts. |
| Field | Memory Studies Media Studies Communication |
| Subfields | Cultural Memory Digital Memory Media Literacy |
| Context | Emerging within the context of digital culture and technological mediation of memory (21st century). |
| Key authors | Pedro Lopes Valdemir Santos Neto |
| Related concepts | Collective memory Cultural memory Digital archiving Participatory culture |
| Applications | Education Media analysis Digital heritage Digital culture |
| Keywords | digital memory, mediation, archive, digital culture |
| Status | Emerging concept under theoretical development |
Theoretically grounded in authors such as Maurice Halbwachs and Andrew Hoskins, memory literacy is based on the premise that memory is socially constructed, mediated by cultural devices, and subject to interpretative disputes. In this sense, it involves a set of competencies that allow recognizing the selective and narrative nature of representations of the past, critically evaluating their circulation in traditional and digital media, and understanding the processes through which memory is continuously reconfigured in contexts marked by user participation, algorithmic logic, and technological transformation.
Concept
Early studies
The term memory literacy emerges in the recent context of the development of Memory Studies in articulation with media and communication studies, lacking a consolidated classical origin or stable usage throughout the 20th century. Its formulation as an explicit concept can be more systematically identified in the work of Pedro Lopes, namely in the article Memory literacy: audiovisual fiction and its contribution to the construction of social memory[1], published in the journal Comunicação Pública. In that text, the author presents the term as an initial conceptual proposal, explicitly described as a “first approach,” indicating that it is not a previously established concept but rather an attempt to name and structure an emerging field. The importance of this work lies precisely in offering one of the first systematized definitions of the term in an academic context, grounding it in the analysis of the relationship between social memory and audiovisual media.
In developing the concept, Lopes starts from the observation that in contemporary societies the construction of social memory is strongly mediated by cultural products, particularly audiovisual fiction (cinema and television). Memory literacy is thus defined as the capacity to critically interpret these representations of the past, considering that they are not neutral or merely informative, but result from processes of selection, framing, and narrative. The author emphasizes that these representations operate within a field of tensions between different social agents, interests, and memory regimes, implying that audiences must develop specific competencies to recognize the constructed, plural, and sometimes conflictual nature of memory. In this sense, the concept approaches other critical literacies, such as media literacy, but distinguishes itself by focusing specifically on the relationship between media and historical memory, emphasizing the need to understand how the past is continuously reconfigured in the present through cultural and media devices.
From a genealogical and theoretical perspective, memory literacy, as proposed by Lopes, is situated within a dual tradition. On one hand, it directly engages with the foundations of memory studies, particularly the notion of collective memory formulated by Maurice Halbwachs and later developed in terms of cultural memory by authors such as Jan Assmann, who emphasize the socially constructed and institutionally mediated nature of memory. On the other hand, it is articulated with the evolution of the concept of literacy within the New Literacy Studies, which expanded the notion of literacy beyond technical reading and writing skills to include critical, contextual, and multimodal dimensions. Memory literacy thus emerges as a concept located at the intersection of these two fields, seeking to respond to contemporary transformations marked by the centrality of media in the production of historical narratives. Despite this theoretical grounding, it remains a concept in consolidation, whose use is still relatively limited and dependent on specific contexts of research and application.
Consolidation and conceptual development
The consolidation of the concept of memory literacy occurs within the scope of recent research that seeks to systematize the articulation between Memory Studies and media literacy in digital contexts. A relevant contribution to this process can be found in the thesis of Valdemir Santos Neto, which proposes a more structured theoretical and methodological development of the concept based on Lopes’ initial formulations. In this research, memory literacy is treated as a field under construction, aimed at addressing contemporary transformations in the modes of production, circulation, and interpretation of memory in environments mediated by digital technologies.
The thesis situates the concept within a context marked by the intensification of technological mediation of memory, characterized by processes such as platformization, algorithmic logic, and the continuous circulation of content on social networks. In this scenario, memory is no longer exclusively associated with traditional institutions (such as archives or museums) and becomes continuously reconfigured in digital environments, in which subjects play an active role in its production and resignification. Memory literacy is thus conceptualized as a set of competencies that enables critical understanding of these processes, including the ability to interpret mediated representations of the past, recognize their constructed nature, and participate in their circulation and transformation.
At the conceptual level, Santos Neto’s research proposes an articulation between different theoretical traditions, including contributions from memory studies (such as Maurice Halbwachs, Andreas Huyssen, and Alison Landsberg), fan culture and media studies, as well as media literacy theories. From this articulation, the concept is developed as an analytical tool capable of capturing the complexity of remembrance practices in digital culture, particularly in contexts of active user participation, such as the production and circulation of audiovisual content.
One of the main advances of the thesis lies in the operationalization of the concept through a specific analytical model, referred to as the 4M Model, which organizes mnemonic competencies into interdependent dimensions. These dimensions allow for a structured analysis of the processes through which individuals evoke, mobilize, mediate, and transform memory in digital environments, articulating technical, affective, and interpretative aspects. This model represents an attempt to systematize the concept of memory literacy, providing analytical criteria applicable to empirical research and contributing to its consolidation as a methodological tool.
Main works
Memory Literacy and Fan Culture: the audiovisual language of edits on TikTok about the fictional universe of The Crown (2025, Valdemir Santos Neto)
Memory Literacy and Fan Culture: the audiovisual language of edits on TikTok about the fictional universe of The Crown (2025), a thesis by Valdemir Santos Neto, represents one of the first systematic efforts to consolidate the concept of memory literacy in the academic field. Situated within the scope of Memory Studies and in direct dialogue with media literacy, the research begins from the recognition that the concept, previously proposed in an initial form by Lopes, lacked theoretical deepening, conceptual delimitation, and, above all, methodological operationalization. In this sense, the thesis not only mobilizes the concept, but seeks to structure it as an emerging analytical field, responding to gaps identified in the literature on memory in digital contexts.
One of the central contributions of the work lies in its ability to integrate, coherently, different theoretical traditions that until then operated in a relatively dispersed manner. The thesis articulates the foundations of collective memory, developed by Maurice Halbwachs, with contemporary approaches to the mediation of memory and digital culture, including contributions from authors such as Andreas Huyssen and Alison Landsberg. To this basis is added a dialogue with fan culture studies and media convergence, making it possible to frame participatory practices as active forms of memory production and circulation. This theoretical articulation contributes to consolidating memory literacy as a concept situated at the intersection between memory, media, and digital culture, overcoming fragmented approaches and offering a more robust interdisciplinary framework.
At the empirical level, the thesis reinforces this consolidation by demonstrating, through the analysis of the series The Crown and remix practices on TikTok, how collective memory is continually reconfigured by mediated cultural practices. The edits produced by fans are analyzed as mnemonic devices that operate simultaneously at affective, narrative, and interpretive levels, showing that memory, in the digital context, is constructed through processes of selection, recontextualization, and circulation. By shifting the focus from traditional institutions to users and their creative practices, the research contributes to redefining the object of memory studies, incorporating the participatory and algorithmic dimension of digital platforms as central elements in contemporary analysis.
Conceptual developments of memory literacy
The conceptual developments of memory literacy, based on the thesis of Valdemir Soares dos Santos Neto, can be organized as emerging analytical categories that help explain how memory is constructed, mediated, and disputed in digital culture. These developments are not necessarily “classical concepts,” but rather operational extensions of the central concept, derived from empirical analysis (fandom, edits, platforms).
Guardians of memory
The concept of guardians of memory designates the function exercised by subjects who, within media and cultural ecosystems, actively participate in the preservation, regulation, and legitimation of narratives about the past. Within the scope of memory literacy, the term does not refer only to institutional agents, but above all to distributed actors, such as members of fan communities, who mobilize mnemonic competencies to evaluate, reinterpret, and stabilize meanings attributed to collective memory. It is therefore a conceptual notion that describes the action of subjects capable of intervening in the processes of memory construction, operating as instances of symbolic validation in contexts marked by digital mediation. Guardians do not merely reproduce content, but exercise a normative and interpretive function, contributing to the maintenance, dispute, and reconfiguration of representations of the past in social circulation.
Mnemonic competencies
The concept of mnemonic competencies refers to the set of cognitive, interpretive, and critical capacities mobilized by subjects in the understanding, production, and circulation of narratives about the past. Within the scope of memory literacy, these competencies go beyond the simple recollection of events, involving the ability to recognize the mediated nature of memory, identify processes of selection and framing, and assess the verisimilitude and social uses of mnemonic representations. As an analytical category, mnemonic competencies articulate cognitive, affective, and media dimensions, making it possible to understand how individuals interpret and reconfigure the past in contemporary contexts marked by the digital circulation of content. In this sense, they constitute the operational core of memory literacy, making it possible to empirically analyze the different levels of critical reading and subject participation in the processes of constructing collective memory.
Mnemonic remixing
The concept of mnemonic remixing refers to the process of reconfiguring the past through the recombination of fragments of memory into new narrative arrangements, especially in digital media environments. Within the scope of memory literacy, mnemonic remixing involves the appropriation of pre-existing content, such as images, videos, or historical narratives, which are edited, reorganized, and resignified to produce new interpretations of the past. It is a practice that highlights the non-fixed character of memory, emphasizing its processual, mediated, and culturally situated nature. As an analytical category, mnemonic remixing makes it possible to understand how subjects, particularly in contexts of participatory culture, act as active agents in the construction of collective memory, articulating aesthetic, affective, and interpretive dimensions in the production of meanings in social circulation.
Methodological approaches
The systematization of methodological approaches within the scope of memory literacy aims to organize, in a coherent and operational way, the different analytical procedures used to understand contemporary practices of constructing, mediating, and circulating memory. In this context, the proposal of analytical models stands out, allowing observation not only of cultural products themselves, but also of the processes of creation, circulation, and reception, highlighting the mnemonic competencies mobilized by subjects. Such systematization contributes to transforming memory literacy into an applicable methodological tool, enabling structured investigation of the dynamics of remembrance in digital environments and consolidating the field as an analytical domain under development.
4M Model
The 4M Model constitutes a methodological proposal developed within the scope of memory literacy, with the objective of operationalizing the analysis of remembrance practices in digital media contexts. Formulated in the thesis of Valdemir Soares dos Santos Neto, the model starts from the need to structure, in analytical terms, the mnemonic competencies mobilized by subjects in their interaction with narratives about the past. In this sense, the 4M organizes memory literacy into a set of interdependent dimensions that make it possible to understand how memory is evoked, interpreted, transformed, and placed into circulation, especially in environments marked by participatory culture and technological mediation.
From a structural point of view, the model is composed of four analytical dimensions, frequently associated with processes such as evocation, mediation, mobilization, and movement of memory, which operate in an articulated way in subjects’ experience. Each of these dimensions corresponds to a specific level of relationship with the past: from the activation of mnemonic references to their reconfiguration in new narrative and media contexts. The model thus makes it possible to identify different degrees of complexity in the interaction with memory, showing how technical, cultural, and affective factors influence the production of meaning. By considering these dimensions in an integrated way, the 4M offers an analytical framework capable of capturing the processual dynamics of memory in contemporaneity.
As a methodological instrument, the 4M Model enables the empirical application of the concept of memory literacy to various objects of study, such as audiovisual content, fan culture practices, and interactions on digital platforms. Its use makes it possible to analyze not only final products, such as videos or narratives, but also the underlying processes of creation, circulation, and reception, articulating critical and interpretive dimensions. In this way, the model contributes to the consolidation of memory literacy as a field of research, by providing analytical criteria that make it possible to examine, in a systematic manner, contemporary forms of constructing and negotiating the past in digital environments.
The analytical model is organized into four dimensions: evocative materiality, mobilization of memory, mediation of memory, and mnemonic movement, each composed of indicators that allow empirical observation of the mnemonic competencies mobilized by subjects. These indicators function as operational categories for the analysis of media content, articulating narrative, critical, participatory, and circulatory dimensions of memory, according to the proposal developed by Valdemir Santos Neto.
| Dimension | Analytical indicators |
|---|---|
| Evocative materiality |
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| Mobilization of memory |
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| Mediation of memory |
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| Mnemonic movement |
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Educational material
References
- ↑ Comunicação Pública
- ↑ Video published on YouTube, presentation and discussion of the concept of memory literacy in the context of audiovisual and digital culture.
- ↑ Video published on YouTube, public defense of the doctoral thesis on memory literacy and fan culture.
- ↑ Video published on YouTube, introductory class on the field of digital memory studies based on the work of Andrew Hoskins.
Related concepts
- Columbia University, Department of Germanic Languages. Andreas Huyssen. Available at: https://germanic.columbia.edu/content/andreas-huyssen. Accessed on April 19, 2026.
- Huyssen, Andreas. After the Great Divide: Modernism, Mass Culture, Postmodernism. Indiana University Press, 1986.
- Huyssen, Andreas. Twilight Memories: Marking Time in a Culture of Amnesia. Routledge, 1995.
- Huyssen, Andreas. Present Pasts: Urban Palimpsests and the Politics of Memory. Stanford University Press, 2003.
- Assmann, Aleida. Cultural Memory and Western Civilization. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Erll, Astrid. Memory in Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
- Columbia University, Department of Germanic Languages. Andreas Huyssen. Disponível em: https://germanic.columbia.edu/content/andreas-huyssen. Acesso em 19 de abril de 2026.
- Huyssen, Andreas. After the Great Divide: Modernism, Mass Culture, Postmodernism. Indiana University Press, 1986.
- Huyssen, Andreas. Twilight Memories: Marking Time in a Culture of Amnesia. Routledge, 1995.
- Huyssen, Andreas. Present Pasts: Urban Palimpsests and the Politics of Memory. Stanford University Press, 2003.
- Assmann, Aleida. Cultural Memory and Western Civilization. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Erll, Astrid. Memory in Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
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