Memory, Religion and Violence according to J. Assmann

Authors

  • Francisco J. García Fernández I.E.S. Los Cantos (Bullas, Murcia).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/sh.629851
Keywords: Cultural Memory, Violence, Moses, Religion, Egypt

Abstract

This article deals with the relationship between the concepts of cultural memory, religion and violence in the work of J. Assmann. According to this historian of ancient Egypt and cultural theorist, every community remembers the decisive events that establish its specific identity through myths, texts, landscapes, etc. To Assmann the cultural memory of the West with regard to Egypt is presented in two distinct traditions.One of them is that found in the Jewish Bible, which presents Egypt as a community whose polytheistic religion represents a false and idolatrous cult in contrast to one true religion, the monotheistic religion founded by Moses. The latter legitimises the exercise of violence and intolerance towards other cults in the name of truth. The other tradition associates the figure of Moses with that of an Egyptian sage who has secretly preserved a truth: the same divinity underlies all the different cults. Only from this tradition that culminatesin the Enlightenment, it is possible to establish a cosmopolitan vision of understanding between communities against religious or nationalist fanaticisms.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    234
  • PDF (Español (España))
    185

References

ASSMANN, J. (1996). Egipto a la luz de una teoría pluralista de la cultura, Madrid, Akal.

ASSMANN, J. (2003). Moisés el egipcio, Madrid, Oberon (edición original 1997.

ASSMANN, J. (2005). Egipto, historia de un sentido, Madrid, Abada (edición original 1996).

ASSMANN, J. (2006). La distinción mosaica, Madrid, Akal (edición original 2003).

ASSMANN, J. (2006). La flauta mágica, ópera y misterio, Madrid, Madrid, Akal.

ASSMANN, J. (2008). Religión y memoria cultural, Buenos Aires, Lilmod, 2008 (edición original 2004).

ASSMANN, J. (2011). Historia y mito en el mundo antiguo, Madrid, Gredos (edición original 1992).

ASSMANN, J. (2014). Violencia y monoteísmo, Barcelona, Fragmenta (edición original 2009)

ASSMANN, J. (2015). Poder y salvación, Madrid, Abada (edición original de 2000).

ASSMANN, J. (2017). Religio duplex, Madrid, Akal (edición original 2010).

ASSMANN, J. (2020). Moisés y Aarón de Schönberg, en La palabra que falta, Madrid, Círculo de Bellas Artes.

BERNSTEIN, R. J. (2015). Violencia, pensar sin barandillas, Barcelona, Gedisa.

Published
20-12-2024
How to Cite
García Fernández, F. J. (2024). Memory, Religion and Violence according to J. Assmann. Historical Sociology, 14(1), 49–69. https://doi.org/10.6018/sh.629851