Social Theory: Collective Memory

Bin XuAssistant Professor of Sociology and Asian

StudiesFlorida International University

What is a Nation?

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

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?

Anthony Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations• Primordialism and modernism

• Smith’s ethnie concept

Anthony Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations• The central role of myths and memories in

ethnie:1. A collective name2. A common myth of descent3. A shared history: A distinctive shared

culture4. An association with a specific territory5. A sense of solidarity

Anthony Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations• Full and empty pastrediscovery and

reconstruction• Landscape and myth:1) Poetic space: sacred sites of memory 2) Common elements of a national myth:

origins in time; origins in space; ancestry; migration; liberation; the golden age (heroes); decline; rebirth

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

Recovered Roots: the Zionist Reconstruction of the Past

Antiquity Exile National Revival

Land of Israel Many countries Land of IsraelHebrews Jews New HebrewsHebrew language Many languages

(Yiddish)Modern Hebrew

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)

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:1. A powerful story2. A challenging site3. Interesting archaeological remains• Archaeological excavation (20:00): https

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8e0VjsLZjE

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.

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)

Mnemonic Practices

• New commemorative rituals: reading Josephus

• Youth pilgrimage: since the pre-state period

1. Challenging physical conditions2. Demanding activities 3. Group solidarity4. Climbing up as a patriotic ritual

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)

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

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)