Premium
Religious Identity as an Historical Narrative: Coptic Orthodox Immigrant Churches and the Representation of History
Author(s) -
BOTROS GHADA
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6443.2006.00277.x
Subject(s) - conquest , subordination (linguistics) , narrative , christianity , representation (politics) , identity (music) , immigration , history , byzantine architecture , classics , ancient history , art , literature , political science , law , archaeology , philosophy , aesthetics , politics , linguistics
The Coptic Church has a very unique historical trajectory that includes an early separation from the Greco‐Roman Byzantine Christian world in the fifth century followed by a legacy of subordination in Egypt after the Arab Conquest. This paper looks at how the Coptic Church narrates this history particularly as it transcends the national boundaries of Egypt to serve migrant Copts in Western societies. The historical narrative of the Coptic Church celebrates its contributions to early Christianity; defends its stance in the Chalcedon Council in 451 CE; and celebrates a legacy of triumph and survival after the Arab conquest. Building on theories on collective memory, this paper shows how the present and the past shape one another in a very complex way. The paper is based on interviews with both lay and clerical members of Coptic immigrant communities in Canada and the United States and on textual analysis of books, bulletins and websites launched on and by the Church.