Recursion, Distortion, and Source Amnesia

Abstract

Between 1870 and 1900, the last Latter-day Saints who knew Joseph Smith gave way to generations that never did. Their collective memory transitioned as they selected, related, and generalized knowledge together. At points in this process their collective memory prioritized coherence over accuracy, as memories tend to do. Art and music depicting Joseph Smith’s first vision began to appear in the 1870s and 1880s. This chapter particularly highlights C. C. A. Christensen’s audio and visual display called the “Mormon Panorama,” which inspired George Manwaring’s hymn, “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”—a hymn well known among Latter-day Saints to this day. These artistic representations reflected and contributed to the recursion of collective memory and its transmission to the next generation. They also reflected and contributed to memory distortion and source amnesia.