Social Theory: Collective Memory

1. Social Theory: Collective Memory Bin Xu Assistant Professor of Sociology and Asian Studies Florida International University

2. What is a Nation?

3. Mnemonic Communities: Nations • Ernest Renan. “What is a Nation?” (1882) • Purpose of the piece: to challenge the idea of race-based nation • Political dimension of this purpose

4. Ernest Renan. “What is a Nation?” • “A nation is a soul, a spiritual principle.” • Two thing constitute the soul: shared past; willingness to live together in the present. • Influence: civic nationalism • Problems: 1) separatism?; 2) forced forgetting?

5. Anthony Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations • Primordialism and modernism • Smith’s ethnie concept

6. Anthony Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations • The central role of myths and memories in ethnie: • A collective name • A common myth of descent • A shared history: A distinctive shared culture • An association with a specific territory • A sense of solidarity

7. Anthony Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations • Full and empty pastrediscovery and reconstruction • Landscape and myth: • Poetic space: sacred sites of memory • Common elements of a national myth: origins in time; origins in space; ancestry; migration; liberation; the golden age (heroes); decline; rebirth

8. American National Myth • A myth of origins in time • A myth of origins in space • A myth of ancestry • A myth of migration • A myth of liberation • A myth of the golden age • A myth of decline • A myth of rebirth

9. Recovered Roots: the Zionist Reconstruction of the Past

10. Masada • http://www.mordagan.com/links/masada/ • 3 years of resistance (70 • Josephus’s narrative of Masada: collective suicide. • The Book of Jossipon(around 10th century)

11. Rediscovery of Masada • Revived interest in Masada (and Josephus) in the late 19th century • 1927 poem Masada • 3 aspects of the national myth of Masada: • A powerful story • A challenging site • Interesting archaeological remains • Archaeological excavation (20:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8e0VjsLZjE

12. The Myth of Masada • “Masada is a symbol. Masada is a guideline. Masada is longing. Masada is a loud cry. Masada is a tower of light…Masada is a symbol of Jewish and human heroism in all its greatness.” (p.68) • Continuity between the Antiquity and modern State of Israel • Selective representations: downplaying the suicide; highlighting readiness to die.

13. Masada and the Holocaust • Heroism vs. disgrace; heroes vs. victims • The suicide theme reemerged as a heroic narrative • “The Masada of Warsaw” (Jewish Ghetto uprisings in 1942-1943)

14. Mnemonic Practices • New commemorative rituals: reading Josephus • Youth pilgrimage: since the pre-state period • Challenging physical conditions • Demanding activities • Group solidarity • Climbing up as a patriotic ritual

15. The state’s sponsorship • 1969 reburial service of remains of 27 excavated defenders • The state’s control of the site • Ceremonial events • New infrastructures (roads, cable car, stairs, hostels)

16. Changing Memories of Masada • Since the 1960s: Masada and the Holocaust (victimhood emphasized) • The image of besieged Masada as a symbol of Israel (Yom Kippur War in 1973) • Masada and the Holocaust coexist in Israel’s contemporary commemorative culture

17. Historical debates • Historical facts vs. stories • Jewish tradition: collective suicide is not glorified • Legal debate: suicide or murder or martyrdom • “The Masada complex” (hard-lined stance without compromise; particularly after the 1967 Six-Day War)