A Distinct Memory:The Comparison Of The Two Baidu Entries' Construction-“Tangshan Earthquake” And “Wenchuan Earthquake”

In recent years,the new media(represented by the network)has gradually penetrated into all aspects of people's lives and developed rapidly.The ever-changing media technology and the continuous development and popularization of the network are unconsciously affecting the way of human memory.As a result,the practice of media memory has a new transformation——the network “memory space” has formed.Based on Baidu Encyclopedia,an online writing platform,this paper refers to Christian Penzold's thinking of Wikipedia as a “global memory place” to interpret Baidu as an online collective memory space.Then,from the perspective of media memory,the entries of Tangshan earthquake and Wenchuan earthquake are slected as the research objects.The text analysis method is used to compare the memory construction of the two entries on Baidu Encyclopedia.The thesis tries to answer the following questions: What kind of memory does their construction present? How did it come into being? What is the reason behind it?It is found that in terms of the temporal regularity of memory writing,the memory writing of the two entries presents a normalized “forgetting”and “awakening”influenced by catalytic factors such as “event correlation” and “time similarity”.In the edition of memory writing,Tangshan earthquake entries are mainly written by zero increment but Wenchuan earthquake entries are mainly written by positive increment.There are division opinions of casualties and earthquake time in the former one,while there are no obvious division opinions in the latter one.In terms of memory style,Tangshan earthquake entries highlight visual and auditory presentation,forming amore subjective “impression” memory.Wenchuan earthquake entries are based on direct statements,supported by data,focusing on verifying the facts,forming a more objective “realistic” memory.In terms of memory structure,Tangshan earthquake entries present a scattered memory,which consist of disordered text time and scattered text content,while Wenchuan earthquake entries present a systematized memory,which consist of ordered text time and concentrated text content.Finally,in terms of memory model,Tangshan earthquake entries emphasize the severity of the disaster,mainly look back on historical events,and tend to “store memory”.Wenchuan earthquake entries have a strong connection with the practical significance and tend to the attribute of “functional memory” by highlighting the relief action to enhance the national identity and promote the spirit of earthquake relief,setting up memorial and popular science plates to keep up with the present and strengthen the consciousness of earthquake prevention.In summary,the Tangshan earthquake entries and Wenchuan earthquake entries present distinct memory construction.