Kingship and Memory in Ancient Judah

ISBN-13: 9780190499907 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 320 str.

Ian Douglas Wilson

Opis

Kingship and Memory in Ancient Judah addresses the question of how a postmonarchic society would remember and imagine its monarchy, and kingship in general, as part of its past, present, and future. How did Judeans of the early Second Temple period conceive of the monarchy? By way of a thorough analysis of Judean discourse in this era, Ian D. Wilson argues that ancient Judeans had no single way of remembering and imagining kingship. In fact, their memory and imaginary was thoroughly multivocal, and necessarily so. Judean historiographical literature evinces a mindset that was unsure of the monarchic past and how to understand it-multiple viewpoints were embraced and brought into conversation with one another. Similarly, prophetic literature, which drew on the discursive themes of the remembered past, envisions a variety of outcomes for kingship's future. Historiographical and prophetic literature thus existed in a kind of feedback loop, enabling, informing, and balancing each other's various understandings of kingship as part of Judean society and life. Through his investigation of kingship in Judean discourse, Wilson contributes to our knowledge of literature and literary culture in ancient Judah and also makes a significant contribution to questions of history and historiographical method in biblical studies.

Recenzje

Kingship and Memory in Ancient Judah is useful in reframing historiographic methods in biblical studies. Wilson aptly moves beyond the use of memory studies to merely determine the historicity of events of Israel's past... Moreover, Wilson's book provides an insightful link to reception history, especially showing how texts continue to function as sites of memory for later writers. Finally, for those interested in political theology, Wilson's book usefully demonstrates the multivocality of biblical literature concerning the institution of kingship.

O autorze

Ian D. Wilson teaches religious studies at the University of Alberta's Augustana Campus, where he is also Associate Director of the Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life. His work has appeared in publications such as Harvard Theological Review, Vetus Testamentum, and Zeitschrift f"ur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, and recently he co-edited the volume History, Memory, Hebrew Scriptures: A Festschrift for Ehud Ben Zvi.