@inproceedings{awad-etal-2025-collective,
title = "Collective Memory and Narrative Cohesion: A Computational Study of Palestinian Refugee Oral Histories in {L}ebanon",
author = "Awad, Ghadir A. and
Rayan, Tamara N. and
Dunagan, Lavinia and
Gamba, David",
editor = "Jarrar, Mustafa and
Habash, Habash and
El-Haj, Mo",
booktitle = "Proceedings of the first International Workshop on Nakba Narratives as Language Resources",
month = jan,
year = "2025",
address = "Abu Dhabi",
publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics",
url = "https://aclanthology.org/2025.nakbanlp-1.10/",
pages = "83--102",
abstract = "This study uses the Palestinian Oral History Archive (POHA) to investigate how Palestinian refugee groups in Lebanon sustain a cohesive collective memory of the Nakba through shared narratives. Grounded in Halbwachs' theory of group memory, we employ statistical analysis of pairwise similarity of narratives, focusing on the influence of shared gender and location. We use textual representation and semantic embeddings of narratives to represent the interviews themselves. Our analysis demonstrates that shared origin is a powerful determinant of narrative similarity across thematic keywords, landmarks, and significant figures, as well as in semantic embeddings of the narratives. Meanwhile, shared residence fosters cohesion, with its impact significantly amplified when paired with shared origin. Additionally, women`s narratives exhibit heightened thematic cohesion, particularly in recounting experiences of the British occupation, underscoring the gendered dimensions of memory formation. This research deepens the understanding of collective memory in diasporic settings, emphasizing the critical role of oral histories in safeguarding Palestinian identity and resisting erasure."
}
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<abstract>This study uses the Palestinian Oral History Archive (POHA) to investigate how Palestinian refugee groups in Lebanon sustain a cohesive collective memory of the Nakba through shared narratives. Grounded in Halbwachs’ theory of group memory, we employ statistical analysis of pairwise similarity of narratives, focusing on the influence of shared gender and location. We use textual representation and semantic embeddings of narratives to represent the interviews themselves. Our analysis demonstrates that shared origin is a powerful determinant of narrative similarity across thematic keywords, landmarks, and significant figures, as well as in semantic embeddings of the narratives. Meanwhile, shared residence fosters cohesion, with its impact significantly amplified when paired with shared origin. Additionally, women‘s narratives exhibit heightened thematic cohesion, particularly in recounting experiences of the British occupation, underscoring the gendered dimensions of memory formation. This research deepens the understanding of collective memory in diasporic settings, emphasizing the critical role of oral histories in safeguarding Palestinian identity and resisting erasure.</abstract>
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%0 Conference Proceedings
%T Collective Memory and Narrative Cohesion: A Computational Study of Palestinian Refugee Oral Histories in Lebanon
%A Awad, Ghadir A.
%A Rayan, Tamara N.
%A Dunagan, Lavinia
%A Gamba, David
%Y Jarrar, Mustafa
%Y Habash, Habash
%Y El-Haj, Mo
%S Proceedings of the first International Workshop on Nakba Narratives as Language Resources
%D 2025
%8 January
%I Association for Computational Linguistics
%C Abu Dhabi
%F awad-etal-2025-collective
%X This study uses the Palestinian Oral History Archive (POHA) to investigate how Palestinian refugee groups in Lebanon sustain a cohesive collective memory of the Nakba through shared narratives. Grounded in Halbwachs’ theory of group memory, we employ statistical analysis of pairwise similarity of narratives, focusing on the influence of shared gender and location. We use textual representation and semantic embeddings of narratives to represent the interviews themselves. Our analysis demonstrates that shared origin is a powerful determinant of narrative similarity across thematic keywords, landmarks, and significant figures, as well as in semantic embeddings of the narratives. Meanwhile, shared residence fosters cohesion, with its impact significantly amplified when paired with shared origin. Additionally, women‘s narratives exhibit heightened thematic cohesion, particularly in recounting experiences of the British occupation, underscoring the gendered dimensions of memory formation. This research deepens the understanding of collective memory in diasporic settings, emphasizing the critical role of oral histories in safeguarding Palestinian identity and resisting erasure.
%U https://aclanthology.org/2025.nakbanlp-1.10/
%P 83-102
Markdown (Informal)
[Collective Memory and Narrative Cohesion: A Computational Study of Palestinian Refugee Oral Histories in Lebanon](https://aclanthology.org/2025.nakbanlp-1.10/) (Awad et al., NakbaNLP 2025)
ACL