Money and memory
Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, September 23, 2025
Moneta, the Latin term from which ours is derived, comes from moneo, “to remember, to think” and was in origin a translation of the Greek Mnemosyne, which means “memory”. Thus, in Rome, moneta became the name of the temple where the goddess Memory was celebrated and money was coined. It is starting from this etymological nexus between money and memory that we should look at today’s resurgence of discussions about the abolition of European single currency and the recovery of the old currencies of each of European countries. Beneath the urgent “monetary” issue lies an equally urgent issue of memory, that is, nothing less than the rediscovery of the memory of each European countries, which, by abdicating sovereignty over its own currencies, have somehow, without knowing it, also abrogated its legacy of memories. If money is first and foremost the locus of memory, if in money, because it can pay for everything and stand in place of everything, the memory of the past and the dead fade for both individuals and collectivity, then it is not surprising that in the rupture of the relation between past and present that defines our time, the monetary problem comes up with inescapable urgency. When a distinguished economist declares that the only way for France (and perhaps every European country) to get out of its crisis is to regain authority over its own currency, he is indeed suggesting to that country to rediscover its relation with its own memory. The crisis of European community and its currency, which is now upon us, is a crisis of memory, and memory — it is well not to forget — is for every country an eminently political locus. There is no politics without memory, but a European memory is as flimsy as its single currency.
Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, September 23, 2025
Moneta, the Latin term from which ours is derived, comes from moneo, “to remember, to think” and was in origin a translation of the Greek Mnemosyne, which means “memory”. Thus, in Rome, moneta became the name of the temple where the goddess Memory was celebrated and money was coined. It is starting from this etymological nexus between money and memory that we should look at today’s resurgence of discussions about the abolition of European single currency and the recovery of the old currencies of each of European countries. Beneath the urgent “monetary” issue lies an equally urgent issue of memory, that is, nothing less than the rediscovery of the memory of each European countries, which, by abdicating sovereignty over its own currencies, have somehow, without knowing it, also abrogated its legacy of memories. If money is first and foremost the locus of memory, if in money, because it can pay for everything and stand in place of everything, the memory of the past and the dead fade for both individuals and collectivity, then it is not surprising that in the rupture of the relation between past and present that defines our time, the monetary problem comes up with inescapable urgency. When a distinguished economist declares that the only way for France (and perhaps every European country) to get out of its crisis is to regain authority over its own currency, he is indeed suggesting to that country to rediscover its relation with its own memory. The crisis of European community and its currency, which is now upon us, is a crisis of memory, and memory — it is well not to forget — is for every country an eminently political locus. There is no politics without memory, but a European memory is as flimsy as its single currency.
(English translation by I, Robot)
No comments:
Post a Comment