Ambiguity, Liminality, and Unhomeliness in the Book of Judges:
An Analysis of the Gendered Pairs and Families
by Jennifer Johnson Williams
Dissertation under the direction of Professor Jack M. Sasson
This dissertation investigates the creation and dissolution of families in four stories in the book of Judges (Judges 19, 4-5, 11, and 13-16), providing a nuanced feminist interpretation of some of the books most challenging and violent stories. The foundation of this study is a literary analysis of the four episodes, focusing principally on characterization of the gendered pairs in each story. The approach also deploys contemporary reading strategies from feminist, anthropological and postcolonial thought.
A literary and ideological reading of these stories reveals that the history in the text is concerned with many issues such as social deterioration and the movement toward kingship, war and families, Israels apostasy and YHWHs guiding hand, the stories of individual people and the story of all of Israel. The project demonstrates that as the condition of Israel deteriorates in the course of the book, clear boundaries and divisions of gender also break down. This blurring of boundaries and narrative ambiguity often occur in the narratives through the exploitation of liminal spaces, times, and characters and in the representation of unhomeliness. In turn, this deconstruction creates elements of complexity and ambiguity, fear and suspicion.
A literary reading that focuses on what happens at the level of family divulges an ideological concern with the roles, places, and statuses of women and the ways in which they operate in domestic and extra domestic functions. A concern with how women contribute to the realization of the ideal group identity becomes apparent. Similarly, the embedded ideology of the text reveals a concern with pressure from inside and outside groups, not just through war but through marriage, kinship, and inheritance issues.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03232015-170925 |
| Date | 09 April 2015 |
| Creators | Williams, Jennifer Johnson |
| Contributors | Herbert Marbury, Annalisa Azzoni, Doug A. Knight, Jack M. Sasson, Theodore A. Smith |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03232015-170925/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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