Memory, Metaphor, and a Double Bind

Abstract

Chapter 6 analyzes the workings of memory and metaphor as Jewish and Christian civilizational tropes. It focuses on the role of blood in both traditions to explicate the different understandings of past, present, and future within Judaism and Christianity. The analysis ranges from ancient to modern times and from religiously constituted communities to membership in the modern nation-state. The chapter ends with an exploration of the particular “double bind” aspect of Judeo-Christian relations that has plagued both right from their inception. This double bind is just one example of a much broader problem of living with differences that cannot be simply reconciled, but which we can learn to accept by recognizing the relevance of the grounds of memory, mimesis, and metaphor.