Bible in Ancient and Modern Media (S21-303)

11/21/2011 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: Salon 11 - Marriott Marquis

Theme: Memory, Identity, and the Circulation of Biblical Culture

How have biblical societies and their writings been received, used, and reused in different cultural contexts? This session explores this question, across history, with particular focus on the role that reused texts, images, and objects play in the formation of memory and identity. Emphasis is placed on how these cultural items gain and shed meanings as they circulate through time and through space, from Jerusalem in the post-exilic period to 19th century Europe. How has biblical culture been created, deployed, and experienced during this time by Judeans, Jews, and Christians? Other questions that will be considered include: What roles has biblical culture played over time in the evolving dynamics between Jews and Christians? Why is a particular medium chosen at a particular time by certain individuals and groups? How does the use of a particular medium contribute, in diverse ways, to the construction of memories and identities? This session has been organized by the University of California, Berkeley’s Memory and Identity Working Group (www.berkeleymemoryid.com).

Daniel Fisher, University of California-Berkeley, Presiding

Daniel Fisher, University of California-Berkeley, Introduction (10 min)

Dale Loepp, University of California-Berkeley
Solomon’s Trade in Horses: A Case Study in the Reshaping of Cultural Memory (25 min)

Ra'anan Boustan, University of California-Los Angeles
Walking in the Shadows of the Past: The Jewish Experience of Rome in the Twelfth Century (25 min)

Kevin McGeough, University of Lethbridge
Negotiating the Real and the Hyperreal: Nineteenth Century Experiences of the Bible in the Context of Ancient Near Eastern Studies (25 min)

Benjamin Fisher, University of Pennsylvania
Reading the Bible through a Historical Lens: Jews, Christians, and the Early Modern Background to Modern Biblical Scholarship (25 min)