The Politics of Regret: On Collective Memory and Historical Responsibility

Something is sacred because it is written down. Whereas the successful cultic priest is judged by his skill in performing sacred knowledge, the monotheistic priest is judged by his skill in interpreting ‘the Word’. Ritual reproduction gives way to the production of the unfamiliar, the profound. Theatrics, Assmann says, gives way to hermeneutics. However, as a result of the increased emphasis on hermeneutic innovation, religions must develop techniques by which they can ‘rein in ’ the urge to push the boundaries of knowledge. This is canonization. With the canon, Assmann shows that written memory paradoxically creates more opportunities for forgetting than ritual memory does. Canons create vast archives of…