Personal Records and Public Memory Construction: A Sociological Study of the Values of Diary Publishing

Diary is the most unique personal thing, which is the secret records of an individual. From the perspective of diary publishing from personal to public, this article discusses its three nature-changing during the publishing process, that is, from the private belongings to the public assets, from the secret states to the public states, and from the private records to the public memory construction. It emphasizes that as the personal records, diaries can connect the individuals with the groups, the society, the state and the history by recording the individuals and the groups, the academy and the society, the state and the history, so as to transform the personal records into the public historical memory. It also reveals the academic values and the fundamental reasons of diary publishing.