Do This in Memory of Me‖: the Genealogy and Theological
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―DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME‖: THE GENEALOGY AND THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATIONS OF MEMORY IN THE WORK OF JOHANN BAPTIST METZ A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Candace Kristina McLean J Matthew Ashley, Director Graduate Program in Theology Notre Dame, Indiana April 2012 © Copyright 2012 Candace Kristina McLean ―DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME‖: THE GENEALOGY AND THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATIONS OF MEMORY IN THE WORK OF JOHANN BAPTIST METZ Abstract by Candace Kristina McLean Many theologians have been influenced by Johann Metz‘s theology of memory. To examine Metz‘s sources and how others expand upon his work, I propose a two-part thesis. Part one arises from critical appraisal of sources upon which Metz relies in formulating his idea of memory. While the thinkers Metz draws upon are secular Jewish philosophers, Metz appropriates key notions in specifically theological ways by linking them with the memoria passionis of Jesus Christ and the Jewish religious roots of memory. Furthermore, Metz‘s apocalyptic/eschatological hope for the future differs from secular and postmodern hopes for something surprising, new, and redemptive because Metz advocates real, faith-filled content for these ideas. Part two of the thesis is critical-constructive. Metz‘s idea of memory has the potential to be more than an anthropological category. While reticent to speak of God‘s memory, anamnestic reason becomes a way of speaking about God‘s work of salvation for and with humanity. This becomes clearer when his idea of memory is considered in conjunction with the theology of God‘s memory in the writings of Latin American Candace Kristina McLean liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez. The appropriation of Metz‘s theological work on memory by scholars like Elizabeth Johnson, Shawn Copeland, Johann Vento, Flora Keshgegian, and Bruce Morrill bear witness to this potential. Comparison and contrast is the way to describe what I intend to do. The first chapter aims at an exposition of what Metz developed regarding memory, including changes over time. The second chapter consists of brief reflection on memory and pertinent topics in the philosophical thought of several people whom Metz admits have influenced his theology. Each section of the chapter will focus on the contribution of a thinker and then the way that Metz has adapted the ideas. The third chapter will consider criticisms of Metz‘s use of memory and possible responses that Metz offers, or which one could offer on Metz‘s behalf. Chapter four continues to rely on comparison and contrast, but this time Metz‘s thought is the baseline with which other theologians‘ use and understanding of memory will be compared. For Chris McLean, my husband and best friend, and Kate Johnson. ii CONTENTS Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Function of Memory in the Theology of Johann Baptist Metz ...................7 1.1 (Auto)Biographical Inspiration of Metz's Theology .........................................8 1.2 Theology of the World ....................................................................................15 1.2.1 Secularity as the Context for Christianity Today ..............................16 1.2.2 Relationship with Karl Rahner's Thought .........................................20 1.2.3 The Church's Mission to the World ..................................................22 1.2.4 Mentioning Memory .........................................................................27 1.2.5 Gleanings from this Stage .................................................................31 1.3 Faith in History and Society ..........................................................................32 1.3.1 History of the Victors and Victims of History ..................................34 1.3.1.1 Status of Modern Western Societies and the Bourgeois Subject............................................................................................36 1.3.1.2 Importance of Particularity ................................................39 1.3.1.3 Dangerous Versus Bourgeois Memories ...........................42 1.3.2 Memory as Resistance ......................................................................44 1.3.2.1 Memory as Hope for the Future: "Suffering Other" as Key.............................................................................................47 1.3.2.2 Memory of Christ's Life, Passion, and Resurrection as Paradigm ........................................................................................51 1.3.2.3 Memory as Liturgical, Communal, and Transformative ...55 1.3.3 Memory, Narrative, and Solidarity ...................................................59 1.3.3.1 A Brief History of the Notion of Memory .........................60 1.3.3.2 Narrative as the Structure and Soul of Dangerous Memory ..........................................................................................64 1.3.3.3 Solidarity with the Suffering Critical to Christian Memory ..........................................................................................66 1.3.4 Gleanings from this Stage .................................................................67 1.4 Essays on Specific Narrative-Memories of Suffering .....................................68 1.5 Post-Cold War Theology, Anamnestic Reason, and Memoria Passionis ........75 1.5.1 The Rise of Nietzsche .......................................................................76 1.5.2 Turn to Judaism and Debates over Anamnestic Reason ...................77 1.5.3 Gleanings from this Current Stage ....................................................83 1.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................83 iii Chapter 2: Philosophical Foundations of Metz's Theology of Memory ............................87 2.1 The Frankfurt School and Critical Theory .......................................................88 2.1.1 Membership and Purpose ..................................................................89 2.1.2 Critical Theory Defined ....................................................................92 2.1.3 Metz's Encounter with Ernst Bloch ..................................................95 2.1.4 Metz's Encounter with the Frankfurt School ....................................98 2.2 Walter Benjamin ............................................................................................101 2.2.1 Philosophy of Suffering and Death, Memory, and Narrative .........102 2.2.2 Metz's Appropriation and Adaptation of Benjamin ........................112 2.3 Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer .........................................................116 2.3.1 Closed Systems, Critical Theory, and Negative Dialectics ............120 2.3.2 The Enlightenment and the Manipulation of Reason .....................122 2.3.3 The Culture Industry, Manufacturing Docility, and Memory.........126 2.3.4 Metz's Incorporation of Adorno and Horkheimer ...........................129 2.4 Herbert Marcuse.............................................................................................137 2.4.1 One-Dimensional Society and Disruptive Memories .....................138 2.4.2 Metz's Use of Marcuse ....................................................................145 2.5 Neitzsche ........................................................................................................148 2.5.1 Forgetfulness and the Death of God (and Humanity) .....................149 2.5.2 Metz's Reaction and Response to Nietzsche ...................................155 2.6 Conclusions ....................................................................................................158 Chapter 3: Criticism, Concerns, and Qualification of Memory and Metz's Use of It .....161 3.1 Jürgen Habermas and Anamnestic Reason in Philosophy .............................162 3.1.1 Memory from Israel or Athens? ......................................................168 3.1.2 Metz's (possible) Responses to Habermas ......................................174 3.1.2.1 Validity of Objections and Metz's Defense .....................174 3.1.2.2 Importance of Objections .................................................181 3.1.3 Metz's Critique of Habermas ..........................................................185 3.2 Miroslav Volf and "Non-Remembrance" as Divine Gift ...............................191 3.2.1 Forgiveness Requires Forgetting…Eventually ...............................193 3.2.1.1 Wounded memory, Healing Forgetfulness ......................197 3.2.1.2 Non-Remembrance in Eternity ........................................201 3.2.2 Relationship to Metz's Presentation of Memory .............................205 3.2.2.1 Comparing and Contrasting Volf's and Metz's Notions of Memory ........................................................................................205 3.2.2.2 Memoria Passionis...........................................................210 3.2.3 Metz's Possible Response to Volf's Criticism .................................213 3.3 Edward Schillebeeck and God's Memory as Foundational ...........................216 3.3.1 God as Pure Positivity and Justice for the Victims .........................219 3.3.2 Critique of Metz ..............................................................................227 3.3.3 Implications for Metz