Chairs

Programme

Cultural memory is a way of dealing with the past in social and cultural life. It transposes the notion of memory as individuals' negotiation/representation of past experience (commemoration and amnesia) into the collective and cultural area. Cultural memory is the shared reproduction and recalling of what has been learned and retained, normally treated as 'the cultural heritage'. It also involves transformation and innovation. As opposed to individual memory, it brings social institutions and power into play. The notion of location and space ('landscape, ethnoscape, a mental map') is a major contributing factor in making the fragmented retrieved past a coherent whole. Cultural memories appear as palimpsests of material artifacts (including buildings and monuments), texts, pictures, and ritual practice. Especially relevant is the negotiation of 'cultural memory' between local identity and 'global' (imperial) culture in this area.

The purpose of this programme is to study how memory is inscribed and embodied in biblical culture and its surrounding area. Papers presented will deal with methodological issues of cultural memory and address case studies of memory work in the area of biblical, ancient Near Eastern, and classical studies. Papers dealing with cultural memory can be presented in the field of textual studies, archaeology, or iconography, or as a combined study of the different fields.

Agenda for 2009

This is an open group and anyone interested in being part of the research group can contact the chairs. Papers are both accepted by submission, and also some contributors will be invited. In Lincoln 2009, we plan to have sessions on two fields of research: Power and Propaganda and Collecting the Past, but colleagues are also invited to present their own subjects.