Liberating Tradition: An Exploration of Liberation Theology Through the Lens of Paul Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics

Abstract

This thesis explores the potential for critical transformation within religious traditions by examining Latin American Liberation Theology through the lens of Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutical phenomenology. It argues that Ricoeur’s concepts of cultural imagination and collective memory provide a robust philosophical framework to understand how religious communities can generate self-critical movements from within, rather than in opposition to, their own traditions. Using the case of Liberation Theology—a movement that reinterprets Christian doctrine to address systemic oppression in Latin America—this work analyzes how reinterpretations of religious narratives can inspire social and political action toward justice. The study traces how Liberation Theology operates both ideologically, by uniting communities around shared memories of suffering, and as a utopia, by envisioning transformed futures grounded in biblical hope. Through detailed engagement with Ricoeur's theory, the thesis demonstrates how religious traditions, when reimagined through faithful and innovative memory practices, can become dynamic sources of liberation rather than instruments of oppression.