The Exodus as negotiation of identity and human dignity between memory and myth
Date
2014-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS OpenJournals
Abstract
The rendition of the exodus in the Old Testament is an excellent example of cultural memory
– a remembered past that resulted in collective memories that maintained the actuality or
relevance of the past, without getting bogged down in the never ending agonising about the
supposed ‘historical factuality’ of the past. In the Old Testament the exodus was remembered
in diverging ways in different contexts and the ongoing need for identity and the influence
of trauma were but two factors that influenced the manner in which the exodus was recalled.
Despite unfavourable connotations it is again suggested that the exodus functioned as a
founding myth in the evolving of Israelite and early Jewish identity. Such a heuristic goal
will be less interested in establishing historically or archaeologically verifiable truth claims
and more interested in how the memory of the exodus shaped identity and enabled human
dignity in subsequent contexts of human suffering and oppression up to the present day.
Description
CITATION: Bosman, H. L. 2014. The Exodus as negotiation of identity between memory and myth. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 70(1): 1-6, doi:10.4102/hts.v70i1.2709.
The original publication is available at http://www.hts.org.za
The original publication is available at http://www.hts.org.za
Keywords
Bible. Exodus -- Criticism, interpretation, etc., Dignity
Citation
Bosman, H. L. 2014. The Exodus as negotiation of
identity between memory and myth. HTS Teologiese
Studies/Theological Studies 70(1): 1-6, doi:10.4102/hts.v70i1.2709.