Description
In this eye-opening book, llana Pardes explores the tense dialogue between dominant patriarchal discourses of the Bible and counter female voices. Pardes studies women's plots and subplots, dreams and pursuits, uncovering the diverse and at times conflicting figurations of femininity in biblical texts. She also sketches the ways in which antipatriarchal elements intermingle with other repressed elements in the Bible: polytheistic traditions, skeptical voices, and erotic longings.
This book marks the much needed next step in feminist biblical criticism. -- Mieke Bal This lively and stimulating book probes the words and the silences of such figures as Eve, Rachel, and Zipporah, using their stories in turn to test a variety of contemporary feminist approaches to the Bible...[An] original blend of text history, feminist theory, and literary analysis. -- David Damrosch
About the Author
Ilana Pardes is Lecturer in Comparative Literature and English at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Reviews
This book marks the much needed next step in feminist biblical criticism. -- Mieke Bal
Ilana Pardes planes the Bible's surface to expose the lineaments that run against the grain, challenging the pat assumptions of our predecessors. Pardes focuses on the unconventional, the irregular, in Biblical literature and points up instances in which a female voice in permitted its say-until the masculine voice resumes. -- Edward L. Greenstein * Jerusalem Report *
Distinguishing herself from feminist Biblical scholars who regard the Bible as a wholly patriarchal work, Pardes sees the text itself as challenging gender distinctions... Her arguments are buttressed with an impressive command of Biblical scholarship and an awareness of the sensitive, nuanced readings to be found in Rabbinic literature. -- Yehudah Mirsky * Forward *
This lively and stimulating book probes the words and the silences of such figures as Eve, Rachel, and Zipporah, using their stories in turn to test a variety of contemporary feminist approaches to the Bible... [An] original blend of text history, feminist theory, and literary analysis. -- David Damrosch
Book Information
ISBN 9780674175457
Author Ilana Pardes
Format Paperback
Page Count 206
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press
Weight(grams) 236g
This book marks the much needed next step in feminist biblical criticism. -- Mieke Bal This lively and stimulating book probes the words and the silences of such figures as Eve, Rachel, and Zipporah, using their stories in turn to test a variety of contemporary feminist approaches to the Bible...[An] original blend of text history, feminist theory, and literary analysis. -- David Damrosch
About the Author
Ilana Pardes is Lecturer in Comparative Literature and English at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Reviews
This book marks the much needed next step in feminist biblical criticism. -- Mieke Bal
Ilana Pardes planes the Bible's surface to expose the lineaments that run against the grain, challenging the pat assumptions of our predecessors. Pardes focuses on the unconventional, the irregular, in Biblical literature and points up instances in which a female voice in permitted its say-until the masculine voice resumes. -- Edward L. Greenstein * Jerusalem Report *
Distinguishing herself from feminist Biblical scholars who regard the Bible as a wholly patriarchal work, Pardes sees the text itself as challenging gender distinctions... Her arguments are buttressed with an impressive command of Biblical scholarship and an awareness of the sensitive, nuanced readings to be found in Rabbinic literature. -- Yehudah Mirsky * Forward *
This lively and stimulating book probes the words and the silences of such figures as Eve, Rachel, and Zipporah, using their stories in turn to test a variety of contemporary feminist approaches to the Bible... [An] original blend of text history, feminist theory, and literary analysis. -- David Damrosch
Book Information
ISBN 9780674175457
Author Ilana Pardes
Format Paperback
Page Count 206
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press
Weight(grams) 236g
