Full Description
Deuteronomy characterizes memory as the key to Israel's covenantal loyalty and commands its cultivation in the generations to come, and the book portrays itself as the foundation for this ongoing memory program. For this reason, Deuteronomy is considered to be an ancient collective memory text. However, recent scholarship has not focused on the book as a formative agent, leaving fundamental questions about the book unanswered: Why does Deuteronomy see memory as important in the first place? How does it seek to cultivate this memory in the people?
A. J. Culp answers these questions by exploring Deuteronomy as a formative memory text and bringing contemporary memory theory into dialogue with biblical scholarship.Culp shows that Deuteronomy has tailored memory to its unique theology and purposes, a fact that both illuminates puzzling aspects of the text and challenges long-held views in scholarship, such as those regarding aniconism.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 A Path Overgrown: Scripture as a Memory Producer
Chapter 2 What Your Eyes Have (Not) Seen: Deuteronomy as Collective Memory
Chapter 3 You Who Stand Here Today: From Collective Memory to Autobiography
Chapter 4 Making Memories: Identifying Deuteronomy's Memory Vectors
Chapter 5 Emplotting Memory: Story as Memory Vector
Chapter 6 Sedimenting Memory: Ritual as a Memory Vector
Chapter 7 Emoting Memory: Song as Memory Vector
Conclusion A Wrinkle in Time: Memory as Portal into the Divine Presence
