In an earlier
post,
I pointed out that some critics of memory theory appear surprisingly uninformed
of the complexities of the theory itself and seem to be dependent simply upon
second-hand applications of the theory in Biblical Studies, and only a fraction
of second-hand applications at that. One
of the scholars I mention in that post who has been overlooked is
Sandra
Hübenthal of Tübingen. I have just
finished reading her essay “Social and Cultural Memory in Biblical Exegesis:
The Quest for an Adequate Application” (in Niels Peter, ed.,
Cultural Memory in Biblical Exegesis,
Gorgias Press, 2012) and recommend it enthusiastically to anyone interested in
memory theory in Biblical Studies. She
shows precisely why generalized references to “memory” are inadequate—social
memory, collective memory, and cultural memory all refer to different
things. Furthermore, and this is a
particularly significant insight, in German discourse
soziales,
kommunikatives,
and
kulturelles Gedächtnis tend to
mean something different than their English counterparts mean. And, even further, Hübenthal notes something
that several of us working with Jan Assmann have also noted, which is that his
and his wife’s understandings of
kommunikatives
and
kulturelles Gedächtnis have
undergone changes just in the last several years.
Quite simply, Hübenthal’s essay is a
must-read for anyone who wants to work accurately with the theory. Her comments toward the end on the
differences between approaching the New Testament texts as kommunikatives Gedächtnis and kollectives
Gedächtnis indicate just why this approach contains so much promise for New
Testament and early Christian studies. We eagerly anticipate the publication of Dr.
Hübenthal’s Habilitationschrift!
Some folks who decide to pursue the critical/academic side of Christian origins are attracted by a class or a professor who opens up new avenues of thought. For others, it is a book that does this. The book that opened my eyes was Raymond Brown's Anchor commentary on John. The Fourth Gospel is (perhaps more than any other in the NT) an entirely different read pre- vs. post-naïveté. Opening Brown's commentary was something of an Alice in Wonderland experience for me.
