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A semilinear partial differential equation of hyperbolic type with a convolution term describing simple viscoelastic materials with fading memory is considered. Ž.Regarding the past history memory of the displacement as a new variable, the equation is transformed into a dynamical system in a suitable Hilbert space. The dissipation is extremely weak, and it is all contained in the memory term. Longtime behavior of solutions is analyzed. In particular, in the autonomous case, the existence of a global attractor for solutions is achieved. 2001 Academic Press Key Words: viscoelasticity; memory kernel; absorbing set; global attractor