A Poetics of Jonah: Art in the Service of Ideology

by Craig, Kenneth M., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780865546141
• ISBN10: 0865546142
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: MERCER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

"With warm tears in his eyes, Patroclus, obviously distressed and troubled, turns to his friend Achilles, and says something like, 'Who can do anything with you?' An expression similar to this one from the Iliad might occur to anyone who writes about Jonah. With such a large number of books and articles available, what more can be or needs to be said about that popular prophetic book?" (from the author's preface).

With these words, Kenneth Craig acknowledges that (1) Jonah is indeed a puzzlement and that (2) a profusion of investigators, ancient and modern, have attempted to untangle the Gordian knot posed by Jonah the recalcitrant prophet. Perhaps we need to back off from Jonah, regroup, and try to approach Jonah from another direction -- which is exactly what Craig does, and with promising results.

In the tradition of the Tel Aviv school of poetics, Craig uncovers the literary and artistic devices that distinguish one of history's best-known yet perhaps least-understood stories: the story of Jonah the Prophet. Craig examines and describes the devices of t

Table of Contents

Tables	v
Abbreviations	vii
Preface	ix
Preface to the Second Edition	xi
What Is Poetics?	1	(18)
The RSV, NRSV, and Jonah	19	(26)
The Narrator and Characters	45	(32)
Jonah and the Reading Process	77	(12)
The Multiple Reports of Prayer in Jonah	89	(22)
Jonah and Poetry	111	(24)
Representation of the Inner Life: A Case for Inside Views	135	(24)
The Ideological Plane: Summary and Conclusion	159	(24)
Bibliography	183	(12)
Indexes	195	(8)
1. Topics	195	(3)
2. Scripture References	198	(6)
3. Authors and Scholars, Ancient and Modern	204	(2)
4. Characters (biblical)	206	(1)
5. Characters (nonbiblical)	207	(1)
6. Key Biblical Hebrew Words	207