Remembering (and Forgetting) in Judah's Early Second Temple Period
A Workshop
May 10-14, 2009 at the University of Alberta
(Subject to Funding)
On Cultural Memory and the Study of Ancient Israel
Studies on ancient Israel discourse during the early Second Temple period and of the Hebrew Bible in general have not been influenced much by recent studies in social memory, the role of sites of memory, and the like. This is not surprising, since most studies in social or cultural memory have focused on modern societies or communities (as demonstrated by any issue of History and Memory). Yet remembering played a central role in ancient Israel as well. Although it is impossible to reconstruct fully the “collective memory” of a society that left very few substantial traces outside a corpus of highly literary texts, one can still approximate the multiple ways in which the monarchic past was construed in Judah during the early Second Temple period. Moreover, one can still advance historical explanations to deal with questions such as (a) why these images of the past and not others? and (b) which social roles were fulfilled by collective/social acts of imagination of the past that resulted from reading a shared set of texts, within a shared historical context? In addition, little has been done on questions of relative “mindshare” of memories in ancient Israel and on the imagined, mental “sites of memory” that the literati of the period developed through their readings.
The Workshop
One of the best ways to explore the potential contribution of memory studies to historical knowledge about the past is to engage scholars of different backgrounds in a constructive dialogue. To facilitate the development of a shared research environment that characterizes successful workshops and distinguishes them from academic conferences, this event includes very substantial built-in time for conversation and discussion. In addition, the workshop has a well balanced roster of participants to achieve its goal. The workshop is planned to engage scholars from different methodological backgrounds in a shared conversation about matters of cultural memory in ancient Israel.
At the core of this workshop stand the Dept. of History and Classics and the Program of Religious Studies at University of Alberta and the Theological Faculties at University of Munich (LMU) who have been successfully collaborating for several years in the area of ancient Israelite History and Hebrew Bible. As in past years, both groups have served as focal points for assembling teams from Europe and Canada who can make this workshop an exciting learning and research experience. The organizers of this workshop are Profs. Christoph Levin (LMU) and Ehud Ben Zvi (University of Alberta)
Contact
Prof. Ehud Ben Zvi, University of Alberta
e-mail: ehud.ben.zvi@ualberta.ca