Social Memory and the D IDACHē

Abstract

This article explores the DIDACHē as a written artifact of social memory documenting the socialization program of a particular network of Israelite Jesus people. Drawing on the work of sociologist Jeffrey Olick, I define more precisely his concepts of (a) memory genre as a mnemonic practice and/or image of the past that is available to a particular group at a specific moment in time, and (b) genre memory as the memory of previous commemorations; the ongoing discourse that occurs by means of particular memory genres. Using these concepts heuristically, I demonstrate that the DIDACHē functions to establish, reinforce, and maintain social identity among non-Israelite recruits by incorporating a specific Jesus group memory genre, the sayings of Jesus, into a more widely known Mediterranean memory genre, the two ways discourse. The DIDACHē’s integration of these two emerges as a distinctive genre memory differing significantly from other articulations of the two ways tradition because it is shaped both by the group’s socialization needs and by memory genres and genre memory associated with the Davidic kingdom, which provide the lens for this group’s understanding of Jesus and his purpose.