Fourteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Based on the ideas of structuralist philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs on collective memory, this survey studies and analyzes the effects of globalization on Iranians’ collective memory; particularly on how Iranians would remember and remind the catastrophic issues such as COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, representations of COVID-19 in global social networks like Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp have been reviewed and discussed through the collected data by online questionnaires filled by Iranian social network users. These representations can be categorized in six different formats, i.e. emotional, medical, political, social, artistic and psychological. Using Popper’s situational logic, the researcher explores how Iranians collective memory is affected or shaped by these representations of COVID-19. In this regard, based on Popper’s situational logic methodology, the elements of this model are identified as: Iranian social network users are considered as the social actor; the social networks like Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp shape the environment around the social actor, which is actually online in this survey and not physical; other agents are the people with most efficiency or popularity on social networks such as celebrities, politicians, and social actors whom can be even non-Iranians; institutions include the Iranian government, WHO, the media, medical companies and other governments; and finally the problem is how Iranians would shape their collective memory around COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show depending on the viral material on global social networks, they can lead, deviate, weaken, or strengthen particular aspects of Iranian collective memory around COVID-19 pandemic.