The History of Time

Holford‐Strevens, Leofranc

doi:10.1093/actrade/9780192804990.001.0001

Cited by 23 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The study of time has also taken center stage in fields as diverse as particle physics, ecology, entomology, biology, dendrochronology, neuroscience, anthropology, philosophy, history, literature and media studies as well as in popular American culture (e.g., Richards 2000;Gell 2001;Halberstam 2005;Holford-Strevens 2005;Rüpke 2006;Feeney 2007;Falk 2008 Museums, galleries and biennales have also embraced the theme of time in recent years. To cite just one example: in 2010, Swiss video artist Christian Marclay created a 24-hour meditation on clock time and its prevalence in modern film and life (about which see Zalewski 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Temporal Turn in Ancient Judaism and Jewish Studies

Gribetz

Kaye

2019

Currents in Biblical Research

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Despite the apparent finality of Heschel’s pronouncement, in 1951, that Judaism is a ‘religion of time’, the past two decades have seen renewed scholarly interest in the relationship between time, time-keeping, and forms of temporality in Jewish culture. This vibrant engagement with time and temporality in Jewish studies is not an isolated phenomenon. It participates in a broader interdisciplinary examination of time across the arts, humanities and sciences, both in the academy and beyond it. The current article outlines the innovative approaches of this ‘temporal turn’ within ancient Judaism and Jewish studies and reflects on why time has become such an important topic of research in recent years. We address a number of questions: What are the trends in recent work on time and temporality in the fields of ancient Judaism and Jewish studies? What new insights into the study of Judaism have emerged as a result of this focus on time? What reasons (academic, historiographical, technological and geopolitical) underpin this interest in time in such a wide variety of disciplines? And finally, what are some new avenues for exploration in this growing field at the intersection of time and Jewish studies? The article identifies trends and discusses key works in the broad field of Jewish studies, while providing more specific surveys of particular developments in the fields of Second Temple Judaism, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic literature, and some medieval Jewish sources.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Temporal Turn in Ancient Judaism and Jewish Studies

Gribetz

Kaye

2019

Currents in Biblical Research

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“…According to Mathias Nygaard, this practice can be seen as attaining a transcendent dimension, manifesting patterns that have otherwise been associated with religion. 17 Moreover, although it might appear that the other continues to have a formative role in this process of global self-reflection, described by Byung-Chul Han as the 'panopticon of the self', 18 the essential character of this emerging universe is inherently solipsistic. Within its realm, the modern self, already divided among numerous spheres, needs and desires, finds itself helplessly trapped in its own mirror image.…”

Section: Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Attentiveness to Distraction: The Transformation of Belief and Disbelief in Western Society

Bradic

2024

Preprint

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In this essay, we will attempt to delve into the broader phenomenon of declining belief in modern society, encompassing but not limited to religious belief, by tracing the transformation of the fundamental categories of time, self and attention from the sixteenth century to the present. Drawing significant inspiration from Charles Taylor’s analysis of the shift of the religious ‘default’ from belief to unbelief within a given period, we will strive to emphasise the significance of what Steve Bruce terms ‘technological consciousness’ in this process. Furthermore, we will attempt to rethink the causes of the change to ‘default unbelief’ by considering global technological and cultural developments in the twenty-first century, previously unaddressed in Taylor’s analysis. To this end, we will particularly draw on the insights of Zygmunt Bauman and cultural theorist Byung-Chul Han, among others. The central thesis that we will propose is that the decline in the belief in God in today’s world is not necessarily caused by scientific or technological disenchantment but instead by a profound transformation and fragmentation of perceived time, self, and our attention, which has evolved alongside modernity, coupled with a new kind of secular re-enchantment facilitated by the digital age. We will argue that, in contemporary society, religious belief is not so much intentionally renounced as it is left adrift, without a firm footing in this new, fragmented order of things. Lastly, we will briefly examine religious responses to some of these developments and propose a potential path forward.

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“…Time metrics previously without tangible links to nature, like the seven-day week (Zerubavel, 1989) and the hour (Dohrm Van Rossum, 1996), subsequently became fundamental organizing principles of the industrial economy and urban social life. Other ancient time meters of preindustrial Europe, mostly agrarian and Christian—the month, for example, or the chronological recording of time anchored by the birth of Jesus (Holford-Strevens, 2005)—continued to serve a function in industrial and industrialized societies. But their conventionality was exposed, and they were now perceived as mathematical constructs with no “factual” reference other than the regulation and synchronization of social life.…”

Section: Ascent Of Rites Of Temporalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

It is about time: Birthdays as modern rites of temporality

Shoham

2020

Time & Society

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What do birthdays mean? Why are they so obligatory for modern people? Based on neo-Durkheimian perspectives on ritual, this article suggests the anthropological history of the western birthday as a key to understand its meaning. The article points at the unique ritual system developed by modern industrial culture, such as birthdays, jubilees, and other anniversaries—designated here as Rites of Temporality—which latch on to the numerical milestones marking the passage of time to which the celebrant (individual, institution, settlement, state, and so forth) is subject. Comparing the birthday with classical rites of initiation then reveals how over and above individualism, consumer culture, state bureaucracy, and historical consciousness, the birthday honors time’s most noticeable markers since the industrial era—numbers—thus objectifying conventionalized time as a central meaning maker for modern people.

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The History of Time

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

The Temporal Turn in Ancient Judaism and Jewish Studies

The Temporal Turn in Ancient Judaism and Jewish Studies

From Attentiveness to Distraction: The Transformation of Belief and Disbelief in Western Society

It is about time: Birthdays as modern rites of temporality

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