Numele - reprezentari si memorie
Names - representations and memory

Summary/Abstract: The creation of the independent state of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991 provoked strong reactions from the neighbouring state of Greece, which refused to recognise this new state claiming that its name and national symbols belong exclusively to its own hellenic cultural heritage. In this article, the central concern is with the capital importance of names in relation to their symbolic, identificatory, and threatening contents for national groups. Behind proper names there are hidden significations, specific language uses, memories and social representations. We will examine the contribution of the work philosophers of mind related to the social dimension of naming, and we will draw on empirical research to illustrate the capital role of naming in the elaboration of a common reality and to suggest a better understanding in social psychology of the relation between the symbolic language of representations and the dialectics of social memory.

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