Reading the Book of Habakkuk through a Lens of Cultural Trauma

Abstract

Despite numerous helpful efforts to ascertain Habakkuk’s historical context, few scholars ask how Habakkuk addresses itself to audiences across varying contexts. Employing Jeffrey Alexander’s concept of cultural trauma, this essay argues that Habakkuk’s portrait of victims and perpetrators facilitates a didactic representation of ancient Israel’s collective trauma beyond its original settings. Examining Habakkuk’s trans-historical nature, this study demonstrates that the book’s portrayal of the prophet and the Babylonians communicates cultural trauma in two ways: through the personalization of trauma and through the universalization of evil. The prophet’s direct speeches to YHWH personalize trauma by deepening the identification to victims of trauma from earlier generations, while representing the prophet as an archetype of victims. Simultaneously, Habakkuk’s moral and religious critiques of past perpetrators of trauma correspond to the cultural phenomenon of universalizing evil, which raises readers’ moral awareness and increases resistance to re-traumatization.