Memories of the Nile: Egyptian Traumas and Communication Technologies in Jan Assmann's Theory of Cultural Memory

Abstract

AbstractIn the 1990s, the Egyptologist Jan Assmann emerged as the most important contributor to German discussions of collective memory. This paper investigates, first, to what extent Assmann's theory of communicative and cultural memory is a generalization of his work on the “bi-materiality” of Egyptian culture, and second, how his controversial notion of the “Mosaic distinction” is linked to his work on the traumatic impact of Akhenaten's religious reforms.