Abstract
Combining cultural theory with the philosophy of law, this essay argues that the advent of state-managed, industrial genocide has brought about a crisis of confidence in the institutions of modern society. A wave of incrimination emanates from the holocaust, which primarily strikes against the institutions of law, but also affects the credibility of sociosymbolic mandate as such. Drawing on the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin and Giorgio Agamben, the author proposes that the dynamics of this crisis may be understood in epistemological terms through the notion of “sociosymbolic sleep” – a psycho-cultural barrier between incompatible registers of knowledge, that the facts of industrial genocide threatens to shatter.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7-21 |
| Journal | Retfærd: Nordisk juridisk tidsskrift |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Art History
Free keywords
- cultural theory
- philosophy of law
- active forgetfulness
- cultural memory
- Giorgio Agamben
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Walter Benjamin
- Jacques Derrida
- memory
- Holocaust
- state of exception
