传统与记忆:以一个埃及犹太人组织为例

Heritage and memory: the example of an Egyptian Jewish Association

本文以一个致力于保留法国的埃及犹太人社群文化传统的组织为例,探讨了在建构过去的过程中,相互分离却又相互补充的两个过程——记忆与传统——之间的关系。对这一自愿性组织的经验研究使我们能够了解在竭力保护以相当复杂地混合历史与身份为特征的文化传统的行动中所涉及的相关内容、目标、方法与行为者。这种努力基于一种通过社会交换与交流以及物质和文献的路径等多种方式而构建的集体记忆;它寻求为不同的代际之间提供一种联接,这一联接贯穿了其致力于复苏的过去、现在与未来。在这一事例中,传统动员起曾经生活于埃及的那几代人的资源,甚至于延伸到近期一段时间,以便这种传统能够被传递给那些从未对埃及有过直观感受的后代人。

This article examines the relations between two separate but complementary processes-memory and heritage-in the construction of the past, using as an example an association dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the Egyptian Jewish community in France. An empirical study of this voluntary association enables us to identify some of the contents, objectives, methods, and actors involved in an endeavour to preserve and promote a cultural heritage which is characterised by a complex mesh of history and identity. The endeavour is based on a collective memory, constructed by means of social exchanges and communication and on material and documentary traces; it seeks to provide different generations with a link between the past, which it strives to revive, the present and the future. In this instance, heritage mobilises the resources of the generations which once lived in Egypt, and of a period that is still very recent, so that they can be transmitted to descendants who have no direct experience of Egypt.