Religion and Memory

Memory is a fundamental feature of religion that is culturally and socially constructed and therefore always closely connected to a particular place and time. Consequently, it is important to study religion from the point of view of memory studies and, in doing so, to inquire what studying religion can offer to memory studies. The aim of this entry is to address these two matters in light of research on religion where the social nature of memory is a topical issue. The studies referenced in this entry, starting with Maurice Halbwachs’ ideas on collective memory, make use of the concept of memory from a variety of viewpoints, but what unites these studies is the realization that there is no religion devoid of social or cultural memory. This entry will conclude with a reassessment of the way in which religion has figured in recent studies on memory.