"Making Histories" and "The Invention of Tradition"

All other informal historical discussion, ancient or modern, falls here. This includes the topics of Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions.

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Peter Kirby
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"Making Histories" and "The Invention of Tradition"

Post by Peter Kirby »

Some interesting stuff that has been coming primarily out of the study of political history (for some time now):

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd ... f/6.3.html

Establishes some theoretical groundwork and points of comparison for anyone wanting to explore this kind of stuff, which is hastily labeled as "postmodernist" and/or "deconstruction" by out-of-touch scholars of a certain sort.
"... almost every critical biblical position was earlier advanced by skeptics." - Raymond Brown
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DCHindley
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Re: "Making Histories" and "The Invention of Tradition"

Post by DCHindley »

Peter Kirby wrote:Some interesting stuff that has been coming primarily out of the study of political history (for some time now):

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd ... f/6.3.html

Establishes some theoretical groundwork and points of comparison for anyone wanting to explore this kind of stuff, which is hastily labeled as "postmodernist" and/or "deconstruction" by out-of-touch scholars of a certain sort.
This is interesting. If we were to turn to the successive development of modern Judaism from the pre-Babylonian period to around the 3rd century CE, there are two which I think definitely fit the model;
"b) those establishing or legitimatising institutions and social hierarchies."
This could be related to the establishment of the Pentateuch as the official history of the Hebrew peoples by the Judean elites who were privileged to return to Judea to run the province for the Persians. They were returning to "people of the land" who had been considered unimportant enough by the Babylonians to justify mass deportation (as the Assyrians would have done), who still likely retained their own traditions from before the deportation. When the elites go, who would have maintained the pre-deportation "high tradition" (not exactly sure what this might have been as nothing has been preserved), leaving only the humbler folks' "littler tradition" (a dumbed down version of the elite's "high tradition" mixed with syncretic elements of the popular traditions of other peoples they were in contact with). The returning elite needed to re-establish a new and improved "higher tradition" and did so by establishing ethnic purism to purge the land of the traditions of other peoples the locals had married, etc.
"a) those establishing or symbolising social cohesion and collective identities."
This could be associated with the kind of Judaism promoted by the Hasmoneans after the 2nd century BCE rebellion of Judas Maccabee allowed them a degree of independence. There is plenty of literary evidence, especially from the oldest portions of the books of Enoch (the Watcher story, 3rd century BCE), that show Hellenism had already made significant inroads into everyday Jewish life, even among those who championed Jewish distinctiveness, such as the Hasmoneans. The Hasmoneans promoted the idea of Jewish distinctiveness as a people. The social culture they promoted took root and thrived until the late 1st century CE, when the destruction of the temple halted the sacrificial system. By the early 2nd century CE, when it was pretty clear that the Romans would never allow the temple sacrifices to be re-established, it was necessary for Judaism to shift gears, crystalizing into Rabbinic Judaism in the Roman empire with the writing down of the Mishna around 200 CE.

DCH
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