In this article our proposal is to think, from philosophies as diverse as Nietzsche and Arendt, relevant theoretical questions of social memory, linked to the issue of politics in actuality. The starting point of the thesis that Nietzsche and Arendt, although authors are not linked directly to social memory, present ideas that can contribute to this prolific discursive field. Justifies this argument finding that the thinkers pose the problem of memory and forgetting in the center of his reflection on society and on the political. To approach these ideas about memory and politics in Nietzsche and Arendt, as proposed methodological study we focus on those who consider the most important writings of each of them - Genealogy of Morals and The Origins of Totalitarianism, respectively - in which these concepts are thematized in tersely. In both books memory and forgetting are interpreted in different ways, such as social phenomenon that emerge in a context of violence, coercion. Philosophers concerned recognize that memory and forgetting are social processes brought pain and violence. For them, the challenge is to study the processes developed by the violence that establishes and controls the power in various social settings, discussing the role of memory and forgetting these corporate settings. The scope of this article, therefore, is to ask how, in thinkers such as Nietzsche and Arendt, memory and politics can be interpreted through perspectives, even from some notions very close, come to very different conclusions.
Nietzsche; Arendt; Memory; Oblivion; Political