(Per)mutations of Qohelet: Reading the Body in the BookBloomsbury Publishing USA, 1. juuli 2006 - 152 pages (Per)mutations of Qohelet explores the question, Who is Qohelet? Rather than peering behind or through the text to answer this question in terms of authorship, Koosed analyzes the identity that is created through the words on the page. The text is not a transparent medium connecting reader with author; instead, it is an opaque body - it has weight, substance, skin. Koosed begins with an analysis of the ways in which words construct identities and the reasons why words can affect us so profoundly, relying primarily on the work of Judith Butler and Elaine Scarry. She then explores autobiography and how the genre of autobiography - as reconfigured by Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida - relates to Qohelet. These two chapters then set the framework for what follows: an analysis of the various bodily organs and sensations contained within the book of Qohelet. The body is embedded in the text through the naming of body parts (eye, hand, heart). And this same body is encoded in form, structure, and syntax, so that the text becomes a body with organs, systems, and even a life of its own. The book is a body and the book speaks of bodies. It speaks of the body's organs and senses; it concerns itself with the pleasures and pains of the body, the gendered body, the dying body. Finally, the ritual body is highlighted in the final passage of this enigmatic book. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 16
Page 13
... term : " Postmodernism is an exasperating term , and so are postmodern , postmod- ernist , postmodernity , and ... correct each other's weaknesses . The danger of postmodernism is its tendency to relativism and its potential to 56 . 57 ...
... term : " Postmodernism is an exasperating term , and so are postmodern , postmod- ernist , postmodernity , and ... correct each other's weaknesses . The danger of postmodernism is its tendency to relativism and its potential to 56 . 57 ...
Page 16
... names that one has ever been called ? Would they not present a quandary for identity ? —Judith Butler1 The genre designation of " fictional autobiography " for the book of ... proper name and the law of genre Chapter 2 CALLING QOHELET NAMES.
... names that one has ever been called ? Would they not present a quandary for identity ? —Judith Butler1 The genre designation of " fictional autobiography " for the book of ... proper name and the law of genre Chapter 2 CALLING QOHELET NAMES.
Page 17
Reading the Body in the Book Jennifer L. Koosed. analysis of the proper name and the law of genre , as well as literary - critical theories of autobiography , this chapter will examine the language of selfhood in Qohelet . Its " I " is ...
Reading the Body in the Book Jennifer L. Koosed. analysis of the proper name and the law of genre , as well as literary - critical theories of autobiography , this chapter will examine the language of selfhood in Qohelet . Its " I " is ...
Page 18
... proper name , a title , or a job description ? There is some evidence from the Persian period that feminine - ending ... proper names . If one follows this pattern , " Qohelet " is then the title of a cultic office as well . After all ...
... proper name , a title , or a job description ? There is some evidence from the Persian period that feminine - ending ... proper names . If one follows this pattern , " Qohelet " is then the title of a cultic office as well . After all ...
Page 19
... proper name , 17 and what is its relationship to systems of language to texts ? Why does every study of Qohelet , including this one , begin with the quest for the meaning of the name ? To approach these questions concerning the proper name ...
... proper name , 17 and what is its relationship to systems of language to texts ? Why does every study of Qohelet , including this one , begin with the quest for the meaning of the name ? To approach these questions concerning the proper name ...
Contents
1 | |
16 | |
Chapter 3 FRAGMENTS OF QOHELETS BODY | 34 |
Chapter 4 QOHELET IN PLEASURE AND PAIN | 53 |
Chapter 5 IN LOVE AND GENDER TROUBLE | 74 |
Chapter 6 DECOMPOSING QOHELET | 88 |
Chapter 7 READING THE EPILOGUE THROUGH THIS BODY | 103 |
Chapter 8 DEPARTURES | 122 |
Bibliography | 124 |
Index of References | 134 |
Index of Authors | 138 |
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Common terms and phrases
ādām Akkadian ambiguity analysis ancient androcentric ănî argues autobiography begins believe biblical body book of Qohelet Brenner Butler chapter Chicago coherent Commentary commentators context contradictions Crenshaw criticism culture deconstruction definition desire Dhorme Ecclesiastes Elaine Scarry emendation epilogue example feminine feminist fiction flesh gender genre gift of death Gliserman God's Gordis heart hebel Hebrew Bible Hélène Cixous human Ibid identity interpretation Isaksson Jacques Derrida Judith Butler language lēb literary male meaning mezuzah misogyny notes noun NRSV Old Testament passage person phrase physical pleasure and pain poem Postmodern proper name Proverbs question R. N. Whybray Rabbi reader reading Qohelet refers ritual Roland Barthes Routledge Scarry scholars Schoors sexual signified singular Solomon Song of Songs speaker speaks speech structure textual theology theory tions tôb toil trans translation University Press verb verses Whybray Wiesel Wisdom Literature woman women words writing York