Constructions of Sex and Gender: Attending to Androgynes and Tumtumim Through Jewish Scriptural Use

Responding to the ethical and performative call of Judith Butler not to propagate the sex- and gender-related violence of the imbedded discourse that we study, this article inquires into the discursive strategies of Jewish scripture by analysing how it orchestrates certain norms of sex and gender an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schleicher, Marianne (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Oxford University Press 2011
In: Literature and theology
Year: 2011, Volume: 25, Issue: 4, Pages: 422-435
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Summary:Responding to the ethical and performative call of Judith Butler not to propagate the sex- and gender-related violence of the imbedded discourse that we study, this article inquires into the discursive strategies of Jewish scripture by analysing how it orchestrates certain norms of sex and gender and makes them serve the overall aim of securing cultural survival. Following this, it traces reflections on persons of ambiguous or indeterminate sex from rabbinic to modern Judaism so as to inquire into the rabbinic dependency on scripture when non-conforming individuals challenge its bipolar sex and gender system. Finally, the article considers if scripture, as suggested by Butler, can play a subversive role in how we attend to non-conforming others today. To do so, the author's distinction between hermeneutical and artifactual uses of scripture is presented to evaluate the extent to which modern Jews and non-Jews are able to influence their own representations of sex and gender and thus liberate themselves from the normativity implied by scriptural discourse.
ISSN:1477-4623
Contains:Enthalten in: Literature and theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/litthe/frr051