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E-book A King and a Fool? : The Succession Narrative as a Satire

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Penilaian

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The question of genre has dominated scholarship focused on the narrative of King David in the Second Book of Samuel and the First Book of Kings. This nar-rative has variously been called, the Succession Narrative,1 the Court History,2 and the David Saga.3 In this book, A King and a Fool? The Succession Narrative as a Satire, I offer a new perspective on the genre of, what I will hereafter refer to as, the Succession Narrative (SN). In this book I argue that the SN is in fact a satire.Among biblical scholars, there are a number of competing views regarding the genre of the SN. Albeit, the picture has been complicated by the over-lap between the genres; however, some distinct groupings of genre have emerged. The main groupings of these views of the genre of the SN are as follows: na-tional epic,4 propaganda,5 wisdom literature,6 theological ‘history’ writing,7 and literary art.8 I argue that the SN is not a national epic as David is presented as a complex character, who is not heroic. The SN is critical of David and could therefore fit into a broad category of propaganda. However, in the light of Keys research,9 I argue that the SN is too ambiguous to fit neatly into the genre of propaganda. Furthermore, I argue that Whybray’s focus on wisdom literature is inconsistent with the ironic episodes of ‘wisdom’ in the text, as Ridout points out.10 I have also discounted the idea that the SN is merely theological ‘his-tory’ writing. Certainly, the stories have historical and theological dimensions. However, the primary purpose of the SN is not to document history. Arguably, the SN has a theological function. The theological material is particularly evi-dent in reference to God’s punishment of David. However, a question arises as to how this theological function is realised. My suggestion is that it is done so in large measure by means of the genre of satire. At any rate, the claim that the SN is merely theological writing is implausible.Since I contend that the SN is a satire, I take as my starting point the trajec-tory of thought which holds that the narrative contained in the SN is liter-ary art. However, I argue that it is a particular species of literary art, namely, literary art with historical content and a theological function. The argument that this text is literary art and not merely historical writing is convincing. For the SN is replete with literary flourishes and motifs common in story-telling. Moreover, the plot and character development have more in common with literary art than with the other genres.Furthermore, the claim that the SN is a satire is convincing as there are ele-ments in the SN which satisfy all of the identifying features of satire. Most importantly, the SN has an object of ironic attack along with evidence of the essential element of satire—pervasive and confrontational irony. The SN also includes the characteristic, albeit non-essential, features of satire including, grotesqueries, distortions, ridicule, parody, and rhetorical features.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

221 MIL a

Penerbit

: BRILL., 2019

Deskripsi Fisik

313 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9789004411722

Klasifikasi

221

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Old Testament, Tanakh

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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