Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Must We Leave Eden, Once and for All? A Lacanian Pleasure Trip Through the Garden

Recent literature concerning Gen. 2.4b-3.24 indicates that the traditional assumptions that the story is about ‘sin and fall’ are problematic, and the text might be better viewed in terms of a ‘maturation myth’. In this paper it is suggested that the maturation theme as discerned in the Eden narrati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ian Parker, Kim (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 1999
In: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Year: 1999, Volume: 24, Issue: 83, Pages: 19-29
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Recent literature concerning Gen. 2.4b-3.24 indicates that the traditional assumptions that the story is about ‘sin and fall’ are problematic, and the text might be better viewed in terms of a ‘maturation myth’. In this paper it is suggested that the maturation theme as discerned in the Eden narrative has certain affinities with modern psychoanalytical theory, and, in particular, with the work of the French postmodernist Jacques Lacan. Lacanian themes such as the development of language, the sense of self, socialization and alienation all have their parallels in the Eden narrative. The expulsion from Eden is just as necessary, though just as painful, as a child's maturation and socialization through Lacan's Oedipal stage.
ISSN:1476-6728
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/030908929902408302