The intergenerational memory of a cultural heritage as a means of promoting citizens' sense of community

Community psychology increasingly emphasizes the importance of cultural heritage, especially in local communities. This study suggests that the reconstruction of autobiographical memory associated with cultural heritage can become a resource for consolidating a sense of community. Therefore, we have highlighted the link between memory recall and a sense of community through which it is possible to observe how memory recall can be a means of giving positive meaning to one’s membership. The study focuses on San Cesario in Lecce in southeastern Italy, an Apulian local community known for its archaeological industrial heritage, i.e., its distilleries. The participants of the study were 29 citizens of San Cesario of different gender and age, who were interviewed. The transcription of the interviews was followed by a content analysis in which the evoked dimensions of the sense of community and the types of memory, such as place or autobiographical ones, were noted. The results showed that intergenerational memory of cultural heritage can be a way of renewing the meanings associated with feelings of belonging to a local community, but also a way of recovering conflicted and ambivalent memories in order to promote psychosocial empowerment.