Let There Be Cain: A Clash of Imaginations in Genesis 4
This article contributes to the ongoing discussion of the story of Cain by exploring the speeches within Genesis 4 as speech acts. The investigation will focus on two narrative levels of analysis, the story level (the viewpoint of the characters) and the storyteller level (the presentation of the na...
| Published in: | Journal for the study of the Old Testament |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2021
|
| In: |
Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Year: 2021, Volume: 46, Issue: 1, Pages: 79-95 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Imagination
/ Story
/ Theology
/ Criticism
/ Speech act theory
/ Lamech, Biblical person
/ Abel, Biblical person
/ Cain
/ Eve
/ Bible. Genesis 4
|
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Zilla (Biblische Person)
B Genesis 4 B Adah and Zillah B Imagination B Narrative Theology B Eve B Abel B Lamech B Narrative Criticism B Cain B Speech Act Theory B Ada (Biblische Person) |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article contributes to the ongoing discussion of the story of Cain by exploring the speeches within Genesis 4 as speech acts. The investigation will focus on two narrative levels of analysis, the story level (the viewpoint of the characters) and the storyteller level (the presentation of the narrative to the audience). The speech acts in this story display a clash of imaginations, with Eve and Yhwh on one side and Cain and Lamech on the other. On the story level, Eve and Yhwh imagine the world in ways that resist human sin and violence and that celebrate God’s relationship with humanity. Cain and Lamech reject this notion and choose to focus only on themselves. On the storyteller level, the speech acts of Genesis 4 invite the audience to adopt and celebrate the imaginations of Eve and Yhwh and to reject the imaginations of Cain and Lamech. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1476-6728 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0309089221998390 |