A psalm is always a memory

Nostalgia and sacrality in contemporary ritual-musical appropriations of the psalms

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12905005
AutoresHenk Vogel (0000-0002-2985-9084, Protestant Theological University, autor de correspondencia), Mirella Klomp (0000-0002-6659-2411, Protestant Theological University), Marcel Barnard (0000-0001-8725-9784, Protestant Theological University)
Año2023
Volumen17
Número2
Páginas427-443
Fecha de publicación2023-06-30
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaMemory Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1750-6980 • E-ISSN: 1750-6999
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/17506980231184567
OpenAlexW4382796106
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas34

This article discusses the role of biographical memory in three contemporary ritual-musical appropriations of the psalms in Dutch and Flemish contexts. We observe that, in performances of psalms, participants (intend to) either forget or recall different biographical memories. Nostalgic narratives of religious, cultural and individual change and continuity inform both the way that they interpret their experiences of these psalm performances, and their motivations for attempting to forget or recall particular memories related to the psalms. By using the notion of sacrality — that which is set apart, non-ordinary — we show that particular non-negotiable desires and non-ordinary experiences recur multiple times in these nostalgic narratives. Analysis of these desires and experiences leads us to conclude that contemplative experiences are desired by many, but experienced by only a few. We suggest the combination of Aleida Assmann’s theory of forgetting and remembering with the notions of nostalgia and sacrality as a way to successfully overcome the unproductive dichotomy between religious and cultural heritage

Aesthetics · Art · Cognitive psychology · Contemplation · Epistemology · Flemish · Forgetting · Literature · Musical · Narrative · Recall · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · History · Music History and Culture · Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy · Psychology