The Ontology of Space in Biblical Hebrew Narrative
Subtitle: The Determinate Function of Narrative 'space' Within the Biblical Hebrew Aestetic (Bibleworld)
Publisher: Equinox Publishing
Published: March 30, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9781845533137
Subjects: Biblical studies, criticism & exegesis; Books of the Old Testament; Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - Old Testament; Religion; Religion - Commentaries / Reference
Description: The central premise of this book is that biblical Hebrew narrative, in terms of its structure, tends to operate under similar mechanical constraints to those of a stage-play; wherein “space” is central, characters are fluid, and “objects” within the narrative tend to take on a deep internal significance. The smaller episodic narrative units within the Hebrew aesthetic tend to grant primacy to space, both ideologically and at the mechanical level of the text itself. However “space,” as a determinate structural category, has been all but overlooked in the field of biblical studies to date; reflecting perhaps our own inability, as modern readers, to see beyond the dominant “cinematic” aesthetic of our times. The book is divided into two major sections, each beginning with a more theoretical approach to the function of narrative space, and ending with a practical application of the previous discussion; using Genesis 28:10-22 (the Bethel narrative) and the book of Ruth respectively, as test cases.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Toward an Aesthetics of Biblical Hebrew Narrative; label: 1
title: “A Cudgel By Itself Kills:” A Proppian Critique of Biblical Narratology; label: 2
title: Determining “Space” in Biblical Hebrew Narrative; label: 3
title: “How Awesome is This Place”; label: 4
title: A Biblical Hebrew Weltanschauung; label: 5
title: Narrative Space and the Structure of Creation; label: 6
title: Determining Space in the Book of Ruth; title: Conclusion: Determinate “Space” within the Hebrew Aesthetic