(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 37
Page 1
... : An Advanced Introduction ( New York : Columbia University Press , 1983 ) , 265 . 2. All biblical quotations are my own translations unless otherwise noted . with words of Torah and it ends with words of Chapter 1 INTRODUCING QOHELET.
... : An Advanced Introduction ( New York : Columbia University Press , 1983 ) , 265 . 2. All biblical quotations are my own translations unless otherwise noted . with words of Torah and it ends with words of Chapter 1 INTRODUCING QOHELET.
Page 2
... translated into psychoanalysis by Lacan , and furthered in philosophy and literary criticism by Barthes and Derrida , the stability of language and identity has been under- mined . Postmodern theories have revised both our notions of ...
... translated into psychoanalysis by Lacan , and furthered in philosophy and literary criticism by Barthes and Derrida , the stability of language and identity has been under- mined . Postmodern theories have revised both our notions of ...
Page 13
... translated into English in 1984 ) , the ideas that coalesced around the term had older and deeper roots . 5 7 However , for my purposes , Lyotard's definition is a sufficient starting point : " Simplifying to the extreme , I define ...
... translated into English in 1984 ) , the ideas that coalesced around the term had older and deeper roots . 5 7 However , for my purposes , Lyotard's definition is a sufficient starting point : " Simplifying to the extreme , I define ...
Page 17
... translation " great collector ( of sen- tences ) " based upon an Arabic construction in which feminine endings are ... translations there is interpretation . In the LXX , the word for " Qohelet " is Ekklesiastes ( from ekklesia ) meaning ...
... translation " great collector ( of sen- tences ) " based upon an Arabic construction in which feminine endings are ... translations there is interpretation . In the LXX , the word for " Qohelet " is Ekklesiastes ( from ekklesia ) meaning ...
Page 18
... translation of this name has led to a few creative propositions . Drawing a parallel from Jewish writings later than ... translated Qohelet chose to trans- late the proper name rather than transliterate it . The numerical value of knsh ...
... translation of this name has led to a few creative propositions . Drawing a parallel from Jewish writings later than ... translated Qohelet chose to trans- late the proper name rather than transliterate it . The numerical value of knsh ...
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