Collective memory: The right to narrative of vulnerable groups in light of personality rights

Abstract

This article adopts an interdisciplinary approach, grounded in the theory of personality rights, to examine the processes of constructing collective memory as a symbolic tool for the affirmation or silencing of social identities, with emphasis on the experience of marginalized groups. The objective is to understand how collective memory functions as a site of struggle for recognition, directly affecting the rights to identity, image, honor, and dignity of historically excluded communities. The justification lies in the epistemological and legal importance of recovering and protecting memories that have been excluded from the dominant narrative, recognizing their centrality in the construction of personality. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative approach, based on a literature review of authors such as Maurice Halbwachs, Le Goff, Pollak, Rivera, Candau, Gondar, Olick, Robbins, and Ramírez, as well as contemporary empirical studies on false memories (Stein, Schacter, Greene et al.). The findings indicate that collective memory is not neutral: its selection, exclusion, and reconstruction are political and legal acts that influence the (in)visibility of rights-bearing subjects, with concrete impacts on the effectiveness of personality rights in the public sphere.