Identity, remembrance and transformation as key concepts in biblical hermeneutics

Abstract

The concepts identity, remembrance and transformation are discussed in this article to highlight the dialectic of historical change. Identity as a basic concept falls in the hermeneutical middle ground between theology (“truth”) and politics (“power”). Identity pertinently denotes the symbolic construction of a living person or a social group, but identity is also applicable to other entities. Identity involves difference and relatedness, “inside” and “outside” aspects of understanding, as well as processes of objectivation (subjectmaking) and attribution (conceptual enrichment). Historically, identity can be defined as the memory of its attributions. Historical identities only remain the same through continually renewed remembrance and transformation. In the course of the discussion, this basic theory is applied to biblical hermeneutics. The underlying practical issue concerns women’s role in church and society.