Ancien activiste d’extrême gauche, ouvrier, alpiniste, Erri De Luca (1950-) est un écrivain « non-croyant » hanté par le texte biblique. Refusant toute autorité (qu’elle soit étatique, divine ou littéraire), il s’inscrit « contre » tous, dans un « à-côté », dans un hors norme traductif et exégétique biblique qui est pourtant norme de l’herméneutique rabbinique. Notre travail s’attache à montrer comment De Luca propose à un lecteur protéiforme une mise en scène des modalités d’une lecture qui s’écrit. Dans une écriture du non-dit, l’auteur s’inspire de sa lecture, de sa traduction et de son commentaire du texte biblique pour mieux questionner les genres. Il crée ainsi, dans une œuvre babélienne où les origines sont horizon, dans une zone mouvante qui échappe à toute catégorisation, un « entre-deux ». Sa position scripturale est duale, entre culture innée (d’origine chrétienne) et culture inventée (d’origine juive). Sa re-traduction n’est pas écriture seconde ou sous-écriture ; elle naît comme écriture. Décontextualisant, littérarisant, resémantisant la méthode exégétique rabbinique du midrash, De Luca propose une forme de réception personnelle du texte fondateur : il lorgne dans les interstices du texte biblique afin de lui conférer une « autre possibilité ». / Erri De Luca (Naples, 1950-), former far-left activist, workman, climber, is a “non-believer” who is haunted by the Bible. Refusing any authority (let it be from a State, a God, or a literary rule), he places himself “against” everyone, on the “sideline”, outside the standards of translation, outside the standards of biblical exegetic compendiums. Yet, De Luca's method fits well in the standards of rabbinical hermeneutical methods. Our work's goal is to show how De Luca offers to a proteiform reader an arrangement of his writing. While De Luca's writing signifies by what is kept quiet, his readings, his translations, and its biblical compendiums serve his inspiration to better question the genre. He therefore creates, in a babelical masterpiece where origins are horizon, in a shifting area that refuses any classification, a place “in-between” every other places. His writing position is dual, in-between an inborn culture (of Christian origin) and a created culture (of Jewish origin). His re-translation is not yet “another writing” nor a “cheap writing”: his translation erects itself as writing. With his very personal style, outside of any context, but flourishing with literary references and by reusing the rabbinical hermeneutical method of the midrash, De Luca proposes a personal reading of the Bible. He squeezes within the Bible's interstices in order to give it an “other possibility”.

Na peça A Criação do Mundo e Outros Negócios Arthur Miller recorre à comédia, à imagética bíblica e a fragmentos de narrativas do midrash para compor com uma linguagem simples e popular, porém altamente significativa, (re)interpretações da História Primeva dotadas de um profundo senso crítico fortemente influenciado pelo pensamento existencialista. O dramaturgo expõe nesta comédia, igualmente como faz em outros escritos, questões contundentes do mundo contemporâneo, alertando, permanentemente, a partir de uma perspectiva humanista, para a necessidade de consciência e responsabilidade humanas. Desde o início de sua carreira o autor norte-americano emprega metáforas bíblicas que, de forma consciente ou não, refletem sua identidade, intimamente ligada às narrativas absorvidas no meio social. Ao associá-las ao pensamento existencialista que permeia sua obra dramatúrgica, Miller compõe um mosaico de idéias que opera dialogicamente diferentes significações e permite as mais diversas interpretações e leituras. Assim, valendo-se de ironia, humor e sarcasmo, iniciando pelo mito da Criação bíblica, passando pela história de Adão e Eva e da tentação, culminando com o fratricídio cometido por Caim, contra seu irmão Abel, o dramaturgo recria, à sua maneira e incorporando um complexo de preocupações temáticas que permeiam a literatura ocidental, os primeiros eventos da Bíblia descritos no livro de Gênesis. Para fazê-lo, o autor se serve habilmente de um estilo que se assemelha à exegese rabínica justamente por buscar nas narrativas e imagens dessa tradição as bases que dão forma e conteúdo à peça, criando uma alegoria simbólica que exibe mito e história ao mesmo tempo em que revela uma profunda frustração moral proveniente da filosofia existencialista absorvida de textos de Sartre e Camus. A investigação do riso como uma reflexão sobre a linguagem e o pensamento, bem como a percepção de que os conceitos e a crítica presentes na tessitura da comédia são tão contundentes e incisivos quanto os encontrados em outras obras suas, evidencia que o cômico não implica ausência de seriedade e que, a despeito de algumas falhas na concepção, a peça oferece mais do que risos e reflexões. Ela proporciona uma aventura intelectual sobre a investigação do mal moral e exige do público e dos críticos um desdobramento para além do material encenado. Portanto, A Criação do Mundo e Outros Negócios demanda um aprofundamento analítico que perscrute nos textos que com ela se inter-relacionam o subsídio necessário para se fazer um exame crítico mais apurado de toda a carga semântica proveniente do conteúdo bíblico, das narrativas do midrash, dos elementos existencialistas, da linguagem coloquial e do próprio gênero cômico, para assim, ao final, reconhecer seu valor artístico e sua significação no conjunto da obra daquele que foi considerado um dos maiores dramaturgos do século XX. / In the play The Creation of the World and Other Business Arthur Miller uses comic genre, biblical imagery and excerpts from midrash texts to compose, in an everyday, informal style, although deeply meaningful, (re)interpretations of Primeval (Hi)story characterized by a profound critical sense which is greatly influenced by existentialism. The playwright expresses in this comedy, as in his other works, important issues of contemporary world, by permanently taking a humanist standpoint and warning about the necessity for human consciousness and responsibility. From the beginning of his literary career the North-American dramatist applies biblical metaphors that reflect - consciously or not - his intimately connected identity to narratives absorbed in the social milieu. By relating these metaphors with existentialist thinking woven into his dramas, Miller composes a series of ideas that links dialogically different meanings and allows many interpretation and readings. Thus, with irony, humor and sarcasm, starting with the biblical myth of Creation, describing Adam and Eve\'s (hi)stories and the temptation, culminating in Cain\'s fratricide of Abel, the writer recreates in his own way and comprising an intricate web of themes from western literature, the first events of the Bible narrated in the book of Genesis. In order to accomplish his intent, the author makes use of a writing technique that resembles the rabbinical exegesis following the narratives and images of midrash to find the basis for his play, creating symbolic allegory, that presents myth and history at the same time. This exposes intense moral frustration from his readings of Sartre and Camus existential texts. The inquiry of laughter as a reasoning in language and thought as well as the perception that concepts and criticism found in the pattern of this play are as trenchant and incisive as in Miller\'s other works reveals that comedy does not imply the absence of seriousness and regardless of some misconceptions, found in the structure of its plot, the play offers more than laughter and insight. It provides an intellectual adventure through the questioning of evil and it demands - from the audience and critics - a new approach beyond dramatic performance. Therefore, \'The creation of the world and other business\' requires a thoroughgoing analysis based on texts interrelated to it to find the necessary support for a more precise critique considering all the semantic aspects from biblical and Midrash narratives, existentialist features, colloquial language and the comic genre, so that, in the end, the artistic merit and place of this play can be recognized among the works of an author who was considered to be one of the greatest 20th century playwrights.

Na peça A Criação do Mundo e Outros Negócios Arthur Miller recorre à comédia, à imagética bíblica e a fragmentos de narrativas do midrash para compor com uma linguagem simples e popular, porém altamente significativa, (re)interpretações da História Primeva dotadas de um profundo senso crítico fortemente influenciado pelo pensamento existencialista. O dramaturgo expõe nesta comédia, igualmente como faz em outros escritos, questões contundentes do mundo contemporâneo, alertando, permanentemente, a partir de uma perspectiva humanista, para a necessidade de consciência e responsabilidade humanas. Desde o início de sua carreira o autor norte-americano emprega metáforas bíblicas que, de forma consciente ou não, refletem sua identidade, intimamente ligada às narrativas absorvidas no meio social. Ao associá-las ao pensamento existencialista que permeia sua obra dramatúrgica, Miller compõe um mosaico de idéias que opera dialogicamente diferentes significações e permite as mais diversas interpretações e leituras. Assim, valendo-se de ironia, humor e sarcasmo, iniciando pelo mito da Criação bíblica, passando pela história de Adão e Eva e da tentação, culminando com o fratricídio cometido por Caim, contra seu irmão Abel, o dramaturgo recria, à sua maneira e incorporando um complexo de preocupações temáticas que permeiam a literatura ocidental, os primeiros eventos da Bíblia descritos no livro de Gênesis. Para fazê-lo, o autor se serve habilmente de um estilo que se assemelha à exegese rabínica justamente por buscar nas narrativas e imagens dessa tradição as bases que dão forma e conteúdo à peça, criando uma alegoria simbólica que exibe mito e história ao mesmo tempo em que revela uma profunda frustração moral proveniente da filosofia existencialista absorvida de textos de Sartre e Camus. A investigação do riso como uma reflexão sobre a linguagem e o pensamento, bem como a percepção de que os conceitos e a crítica presentes na tessitura da comédia são tão contundentes e incisivos quanto os encontrados em outras obras suas, evidencia que o cômico não implica ausência de seriedade e que, a despeito de algumas falhas na concepção, a peça oferece mais do que risos e reflexões. Ela proporciona uma aventura intelectual sobre a investigação do mal moral e exige do público e dos críticos um desdobramento para além do material encenado. Portanto, A Criação do Mundo e Outros Negócios demanda um aprofundamento analítico que perscrute nos textos que com ela se inter-relacionam o subsídio necessário para se fazer um exame crítico mais apurado de toda a carga semântica proveniente do conteúdo bíblico, das narrativas do midrash, dos elementos existencialistas, da linguagem coloquial e do próprio gênero cômico, para assim, ao final, reconhecer seu valor artístico e sua significação no conjunto da obra daquele que foi considerado um dos maiores dramaturgos do século XX. / In the play The Creation of the World and Other Business Arthur Miller uses comic genre, biblical imagery and excerpts from midrash texts to compose, in an everyday, informal style, although deeply meaningful, (re)interpretations of Primeval (Hi)story characterized by a profound critical sense which is greatly influenced by existentialism. The playwright expresses in this comedy, as in his other works, important issues of contemporary world, by permanently taking a humanist standpoint and warning about the necessity for human consciousness and responsibility. From the beginning of his literary career the North-American dramatist applies biblical metaphors that reflect - consciously or not - his intimately connected identity to narratives absorbed in the social milieu. By relating these metaphors with existentialist thinking woven into his dramas, Miller composes a series of ideas that links dialogically different meanings and allows many interpretation and readings. Thus, with irony, humor and sarcasm, starting with the biblical myth of Creation, describing Adam and Eve\'s (hi)stories and the temptation, culminating in Cain\'s fratricide of Abel, the writer recreates in his own way and comprising an intricate web of themes from western literature, the first events of the Bible narrated in the book of Genesis. In order to accomplish his intent, the author makes use of a writing technique that resembles the rabbinical exegesis following the narratives and images of midrash to find the basis for his play, creating symbolic allegory, that presents myth and history at the same time. This exposes intense moral frustration from his readings of Sartre and Camus existential texts. The inquiry of laughter as a reasoning in language and thought as well as the perception that concepts and criticism found in the pattern of this play are as trenchant and incisive as in Miller\'s other works reveals that comedy does not imply the absence of seriousness and regardless of some misconceptions, found in the structure of its plot, the play offers more than laughter and insight. It provides an intellectual adventure through the questioning of evil and it demands - from the audience and critics - a new approach beyond dramatic performance. Therefore, \'The creation of the world and other business\' requires a thoroughgoing analysis based on texts interrelated to it to find the necessary support for a more precise critique considering all the semantic aspects from biblical and Midrash narratives, existentialist features, colloquial language and the comic genre, so that, in the end, the artistic merit and place of this play can be recognized among the works of an author who was considered to be one of the greatest 20th century playwrights.

The Mishnah and Tosefta are two related works of legal discourse produced by Jewish sages in Late Roman Palestine. In these works, sages also appear as primary shapers of Jewish law. They are portrayed not only as individuals but also as “the SAGES,” a literary construct that is fleshed out in the context of numerous face-to-face legal disputes with individual sages. Although the historical accuracy of this portrait cannot be verified, it reveals the perceptions or wishes of the Mishnah’s and Tosefta’s redactors about the functioning of authority in the circles. An initial analysis of fourteen parallel Mishnah/Tosefta passages reveals that the authority of the Mishnah’s SAGES is unquestioned while the Tosefta’s SAGES are willing at times to engage in rational argumentation. In one passage, the Tosefta’s SAGES are shown to have ruled hastily and incorrectly on certain legal issues. A broader survey reveals that the Mishnah also contains a modest number of disputes in which the apparently sui generis authority of the SAGES is compromised by their participation in rational argumentation or by literary devices that reveal an occasional weakness of judgment. Since the SAGES are occasionally in error, they are not portrayed in entirely ideal terms. The Tosefta’s literary construct of the SAGES differs in one important respect from the Mishnah’s. In twenty-one passages, the Tosefta describes a later sage reviewing early disputes. Ten of these reviews involve the SAGES. In each of these, the later sage subjects the dispute to further analysis that accords the SAGES’ opinion no more a priori weight than the opinion of individual sages. They result in a narrowing of the scope of the SAGES’ opinion and a broadening of the scope of an individual sage’s opinion. By applying rational criteria, these reviews have the effect of undermining the SAGES authority. However, the full body of twenty-one Toseftan reviews is apparently motivated by an increased emphasis on rational analysis rather than an agenda to undermine that authority. This approach prefigures the later, more comprehensive use of rational analysis to evaluate the whole of tradition that is found in the Babylonian Talmud. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Judaica)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1979. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [143]-156) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1979. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [143]-156) and index.

The Mishnah and Tosefta are two related works of legal discourse produced by Jewish sages in Late Roman Palestine. In these works, sages also appear as primary shapers of Jewish law. They are portrayed not only as individuals but also as “the SAGES,” a literary construct that is fleshed out in the context of numerous face-to-face legal disputes with individual sages. Although the historical accuracy of this portrait cannot be verified, it reveals the perceptions or wishes of the Mishnah’s and Tosefta’s redactors about the functioning of authority in the circles. An initial analysis of fourteen parallel Mishnah/Tosefta passages reveals that the authority of the Mishnah’s SAGES is unquestioned while the Tosefta’s SAGES are willing at times to engage in rational argumentation. In one passage, the Tosefta’s SAGES are shown to have ruled hastily and incorrectly on certain legal issues. A broader survey reveals that the Mishnah also contains a modest number of disputes in which the apparently sui generis authority of the SAGES is compromised by their participation in rational argumentation or by literary devices that reveal an occasional weakness of judgment. Since the SAGES are occasionally in error, they are not portrayed in entirely ideal terms. The Tosefta’s literary construct of the SAGES differs in one important respect from the Mishnah’s. In twenty-one passages, the Tosefta describes a later sage reviewing early disputes. Ten of these reviews involve the SAGES. In each of these, the later sage subjects the dispute to further analysis that accords the SAGES’ opinion no more a priori weight than the opinion of individual sages. They result in a narrowing of the scope of the SAGES’ opinion and a broadening of the scope of an individual sage’s opinion. By applying rational criteria, these reviews have the effect of undermining the SAGES authority. However, the full body of twenty-one Toseftan reviews is apparently motivated by an increased emphasis on rational analysis rather than an agenda to undermine that authority. This approach prefigures the later, more comprehensive use of rational analysis to evaluate the whole of tradition that is found in the Babylonian Talmud. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Judaica)

This dissertation investigates the validity of the hypothesis that biblical images [imagery] in the narrative model of preaching enhance relevance and recall possibilities of the sermon, filling the open spaces for the listener in a meaningful way. "Imagery" is researched in its application in various genres of the narrative sermon, e.g. the inductive, the narrative as such, metaphor, parable and transformational preaching. In the final analysis, the Midrash hermeneutical model as theoretical exposition and fresh proposition for homiletical possibilities for today was suggested and instruments proposed to aid in the preparaUon of Midrashic narrative sermons. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

This dissertation investigates the validity of the hypothesis that biblical images [imagery] in the narrative model of preaching enhance relevance and recall possibilities of the sermon, filling the open spaces for the listener in a meaningful way. "Imagery" is researched in its application in various genres of the narrative sermon, e.g. the inductive, the narrative as such, metaphor, parable and transformational preaching. In the final analysis, the Midrash hermeneutical model as theoretical exposition and fresh proposition for homiletical possibilities for today was suggested and instruments proposed to aid in the preparaUon of Midrashic narrative sermons. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

An investigation of the Beatitudes of Matthew: Between oral tradition and Greek text investigates the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew. It starts with the Greek text as it is known today and works backwards to uncover the different stages of tradition. Each beatitude is reconstructed in both Hebrew and Aramaic in order to ascertain the oral tradition which gave rise to the Greek text and, ultimately, to suggest a theoretical rendering of the original words of Jesus. The results indicate that the original Beatitudes were given in Aramaic. They were subsequently translated into Hebrew and it is this Hebrew version which is the antecedent for the Greek text (which itself underwent successive modifications) known today. The value of the results of this investigation is a more accurate understanding of the words of Jesus, having obvious implications for Bible translations and commentaries. The results further give a glimpse into how the Beatitudes were understood at the different stages of tradition and assess their modern interpretation in the light of their history. / Thesis (DLitt (Ancient Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted