The Bible and the Comic Vision - Hardcover

Whedbee, J. William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521495075 ISBN 13: 9780521495073

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

This study explores in a comprehensive and provocative way the presence of comedy in the Hebrew Scriptures. Apart from the occasional recognition of comic forms or motifs in biblical dress, the vast majority of interpreters have usually discounted or even disdained the possibility of the Bible having any significant place for the comic vision. This book attempts to make amends for this short-sighted, prejudicial perspective. Using a broad, eclectic view of comedy, it offers an in-depth analysis of such richly diverse biblical texts as Genesis, Exodus, Esther, Jonah, Job and the Song of Songs. Showing how comedy oscillates between the poles of attack and affirmation, critique and celebration, this exploration brings to light the biblical appropriation of the comic vision as a vital strategy to overcome death and despair and to revel in life and laughter.

About this title

Book Description:

Apart from the occasional recognition of comic forms or motifs in biblical dress, the vast majority of interpreters have usually discounted or even disdained the possibility of the Bible having any significant place for the comic vision. This book attempts to make amends for this short-sighted, prejudicial perspective.

About the Author:

J. William Whedbee is the Nancy M. Lyon Professor of Biblical Literature and History at Pomona College (Claremont, California). He is also the author of Isaiah and Wisdom.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0521495075
• ISBN 13: 9780521495073
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 327