The Book of Job as Polyphonic Text

The problem of the 'unity' of the book of Job has been an issue since the rise of historical criticism. Historical-critical analyses, final form literary approaches, and deconstructive readings engage the problem in enlightening but not wholly satisfying ways. A Bakhtinian approach that ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Main Author: Newsom, Carol A. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2002
In: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The problem of the 'unity' of the book of Job has been an issue since the rise of historical criticism. Historical-critical analyses, final form literary approaches, and deconstructive readings engage the problem in enlightening but not wholly satisfying ways. A Bakhtinian approach that makes use of the categories of dialogic truth and polyphonic composition provides a means of acknowledging the sharp disjunctions in the book while still providing an account of the unity of the book as a whole. The book of Job can be seen as a dialogue of genres and 'voice ideas' in which no one voice is privileged as the voice of truth. At the same time issues raised in the book of Job disclose limitations in Bakhtin' s analysis of dialogue.In its structure Job's dialogue is internally endless, for the opposition of the soul to God-whether the opposition be hostile or humble-is conceived in it as something irrevocable and eternal.—M.M. Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevsky's Art1
ISSN:1476-6728
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/030908920202600305