Rethinking Theory

A Bakhtinian Reading

By: Andre LaCocque, Gary Saul Morson

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Hardcover | 1 November 2007

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176 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 1.27

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Readers and scholars often question the inclusion of the Book of Esther in the canon. Where, they wonder, do the book7;s flagrant displays of hatred, deceit, violence, and the antidotal grotesqueries of Purim figure in the biblical tradition? Such confusion, this book tells us, arises from a wrong appraisal of Esther7;s literary genre. Distinguished scriptural scholar Andre LaCocque draws on the lessons of Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin to reveal the true comedic nature of the story of Esther and Mordecai. In particular, LaCocque finds in the book7;s grotesque elements--from royal banquets that last a half-year to an improbable succession of coincidences and reversals of fortunes neutralizing a planned genocide--a natural fit with Bakhtin7;s description of the 0;carnivalesque.1;
Bakhtin7;s rediscovery of the carnivalesque employs such key notions and categories as the dialogic, the novelistic, the chronotopic, the polyphonic, and authoring-as-creating. Using these and other Bakhtinian tools, LaCocque rereads Esther to show how the book7;s comedic mood is paradoxically proportional to the catastrophic predicament of the Jews. Here, as biblical theocentrism shifts to Judeocentrism, we see how the carnivalesque becomes subversive of the Establishment and liberating. In Esther, the underlying conviction is that Jewish survival is providential2;and that anti-Semitism is anti-God. This is, as LaCocque tells us with a nod to Aristotle, a worthy lesson disguised as a "low genre."

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Non-Fiction Society & Culture Social Groups Social & Cultural Aspects of Religious Groups Jewish Studies Religion & Beliefs Christianity Biblical Studies & Exegesis Bible Readings, Selections & Meditations Literature, Poetry & Plays History & Criticism of Literature Literary Theory

The Literary Genre(s) of the Book of Esther	p. 3
The Book of Esther and the Powers That Be	p. 32
The Secularism of the Book of Esther	p. 42
A Trio of Women: Vashti, Esther, Zeresh	p. 50
In the Background: Israel versus Amalek	p. 65
Banqueting and Festivities	p. 81
The Book of Esther Interprets and Is Interpreted	p. 103
Otherness: The Women and the Jews	p. 116
Outline of the Book of Esther	p. 133
Notes	p. 135
Bibliography	p. 179
Index	p. 193
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Rethinking Theory

A Bakhtinian Reading

At a Glance

Hardcover

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How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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