Rebuilding Jerusalem: Ezra-Nehemiah as Narrative Resilience
This study analyzes the final form of Ezra-Nehemiah through the lens of historical trauma, which focuses on the cross-generational genetic, epigenetic and social effects of trauma. Sociologists suggest that narrative construction is essential for multigenerational resilience. Based on parallels of f...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Mohr Siebeck
2023
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| In: |
Jewish studies quarterly
Year: 2023, Volume: 30, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-27 |
| Further subjects: | B
Post-colonialism
B Historicaltrauma B PersianPeriod B HebrewBible B Post-exilic |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This study analyzes the final form of Ezra-Nehemiah through the lens of historical trauma, which focuses on the cross-generational genetic, epigenetic and social effects of trauma. Sociologists suggest that narrative construction is essential for multigenerational resilience. Based on parallels of forced migration and colonized repatriation, I use findings about historical trauma in indigenous American communities to illuminate the experiences constructed in the Masoretic form of Ezra-Nehemiah. From a colonized perspective, Ezra-Nehemiah imagines a response of resilience to the exile and long-term colonization of repatriated Judeans. Historical trauma theory frames the reestablishment of the temple, the city walls and the law as a narrative source of agency, resilience and cultural clarity. Ezra-Nehemiah communicates to future generations that even though the trauma of exile has not ended, the ability to reassert agency and an adaptable differentiated identity is continual, pressing and restorative. |
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| ISSN: | 1868-6788 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Jewish studies quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1628/jsq-2023-0002 |