Untamable Texts: Literary Studies and Narrative Theory in the Books of Samuel

293 Pages·2009·1.66 MB·English

by  Greger Andersson

LIBRARY OF HEBREW BIBLE/
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES

514

Formerly Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series

Editors
Claudia V. Camp, Texas Christian University
Andrew Mein, Westcott House, Cambridge

Founding Editors
David J. A. Clines, Philip R. Davies and David M. Gunn

Editorial Board
Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon,
Norman K. Gottwald, Gina Hens-Piazza, John Jarick, Andrew D. H. Mayes,
Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller, Yvonne Sherwood
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UNTAMABLE TEXTS

Literary Studies and Narrative Theory
in the Books of Samuel

Greger Andersson
Copyright © 2009 by Greger Andersson

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Andersson, Greger, 1958-
Untamable texts : literary studies and narrative theory in the books
of Samuel / Greger Andersson.
p. cm. -- (The library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies ;
514)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-567-52051-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-567-52051-X (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Bible. O.T. Samuel--Criticism, Narrative. 2. Bible as literature.
I. Title. II. Series.

BS1325.52.A53 2009
222'.4066--dc22

2009005318

06 07 08 09 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi

INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter 1
POETICS AND INTERPRETATION 8
1.1. A Literary Study of the Biblical Narratives 11
1.1.1. A Literary and Synchronic Approach 12
1.1.2. Biblical Literary Criticism and the
Historical Method 13
1.1.3. A Literary Approach and the “Character”
of the Biblical Narratives 16
1.1.4. Poetics and Interpretation 18
1.1.5. Speci(cid:1)c and General Poetics 20
1.2. A Close Reading of Three Interpretations 22
1.2.1. The Story about Hannah 23
1.2.2. Robert Polzin’s Interpretation of 1 Samuel 1 28
1.2.2.1. Polzin’s Method 33
1.2.2.2. A Narrative about the Birth of Kingship 35
1.2.2.3. Polzin’s Reading: A Non-literary Suggestion 38
1.2.3. Walter Brueggemann’s Interpretation of 2 Samuel 21 39
1.2.3.1. 2 Samuel 21: An Ironic Text 41
1.2.3.2. Brueggemann’s Reasons for an Ironic Reading
of 2 Samuel 21 42
1.2.3.3. A Suspicious Reading of 2 Samuel 21 44
1.2.3.4. Brueggemann’s Reading:
A Non-literary Suggestion 45
1.2.4. J. P. Fokkelman’s Interpretation of 2 Kings 4 46
1.2.4.1. Fokkelman’s Method 49
1.2.4.2. A Story about a Heroic Mother 50
1.2.4.3. A Literary and Narrative Reading of 2 Kings 4 52
1.2.5. “New” Readings of Ancient Texts 54
vi Untamable Texts
1.3. Poetics, Narratology, Criticism, and Interpretation 58
1.3.1. Narratology 59
1.3.2. Classical Narratology and Postclassical Narratologies:
Object, Methods, and Aims 62
1.3.3. Discourse Narratology 65
1.3.4. Gérard Genette’s Analysis of Proust 69

Chapter 2
THE SENSE-GOVERNING INTENT OF BIBLICAL NARRATIVES 72
2.1. The Character of a Narrative—A Salient Issue 78
2.2. An Outline of the Present Chapter 80
2.3. The Books of Samuel and the “Succession History
of David” 81
2.3.1. The Composition of the Books of Samuel 82
2.3.2. The Present Form of the Books of Samuel 83
2.3.3. The “Succession History of David” 86
2.3.4. David and Bathsheba 91
2.3.5. History, Apologetics, Ideology, or Literature 99
2.3.6. 2 Samuel 5 103
2.4. The Distinction between Different Kinds of Narratives 109
2.4.1. 2 Samuel 1 and 12 110
2.4.1.1. The Amalekite Messenger’s Narrative 111
2.4.1.2. Nathan’s Narrative 113
2.4.1.3. The Extradiegetical Narratives
about the Amalekite and about Nathan 115
2.5. Story and History 116
2.5.1. Narratology and the Distinction between History
and Fiction 118
2.5.2. History and Literature in the Old Testament 123
2.6. Summary 128

Chapter 3
STORYTELLING: SENSE AND REFERENCE 129
3.1. Three Notions of the Reading of Narratives 129
3.1.1. The Narratives of the Books of Samuel: “Windows”
or “Paintings”? 131
3.1.1.1. A Window to a World 132
3.1.1.2. A Painting 135
3.1.2. Disquieting Interpretations 137
3.1.3. Joel Rosenberg’s Literary Guide to the Books
of Samuel 138
3.1.3.1. Rosenberg’s Method: Saul and David 140
3.1.3.2. A Literary Interpretation According
to Rosenberg 144
Contents vii
3.2. Gap-Filling and the Drawing of Implications 148
3.2.1. Disquieting Interpretations and Silly Questions 151
3.2.2. Gapping: Fiction and Non(cid:1)ction 152
3.2.3. Bar-Efrat on Time Gaps in the Story of David
and Absalom 157
3.3. Literary or Historical Interpretations: A Series of Examples 160
3.3.1. To Take the Internal Perspective 161
3.3.2. Gap-Filling, the Drawing of Implications,
and the Reading Process 165
3.3.2.1. Adele Berlin on Genesis 37 166
3.3.2.2. Yairah Amit on David and Nabal 169
3.3.2.3. J. P. Fokkelman on Gideon 170
3.3.3. Gap-Filling, Theories about Reading, and Suggested
Reinterpretations 172
3.3.3.1. Yairah Amit on David 172
3.3.3.2. Yairah Amit on 1 Samuel 13 174
3.3.3.3. J. P. Fokkelman on 1 Samuel 8–10 175
3.4. The Amalekite Messenger: 2 Samuel 1 179
3.4.1. Is the Amalekite Lying? 179
3.4.2. Arguments Supporting the Suggestion
that the Amalekite Lies 181
3.4.3. A Reconstruction of the Events on Mount Gilboa 184
3.4.4. What Was David Thinking? 189
3.4.5. Robert Polzin on 2 Samuel 1:
A Deeper Understanding or a Reinterpretation 191
3.5. Some Concluding Remarks 196

Chapter 4
TWO NODES: NARRATORS AND PERSPECTIVE 199
4.1. The Teller of the Biblical Narratives 201
4.1.1. Anonymity, Omniscience, and Historiography 203
4.1.2. Authors, Implied Authors, and Narrators 205
4.1.3. The Author and the Narrator 205
4.1.4. The Narrator and the Implied Author 206
4.1.5. The Implied Author and the Narrator
in Biblical Literary Criticism 208
4.1.6. The Narrator and the Ideological Perspective
of the Text 210
4.1.7. Narrative Techniques or Unintended Features? 212
4.1.7.1. An Ironic Text 216
4.1.7.2. A Dialogic Narrative 219
4.1.7.3. An Unreliable Narrator 222
4.1.7.4. Storytelling, the Implied Author, and the Narrator 225
4.1.8. Storytelling and the Teller 227
viii Untamable Texts
4.2. Perspective, Point of View, Focalization 230
4.2.1. Focalization and Restriction of Field 231
4.2.2. An Unavoidable Bias 233
4.2.3. Perspective on the Micro Level 234
4.2.4. Perspective and Knowledge 237
4.2.5. Perspective: An Elusive Concept 239
4.2.6. Leaders and Fathers: 1 Samuel 4 and 2 Samuel 18 239
4.2.7. Perspective and Irony 243
4.2.8. The Sympathetic Imagination 244
4.2.9. Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom 246

Chapter 5
INTERPRETERS, THEORIES, AND TEXTS 252
5.1. A Literary Study of Old Testament Narratives 252
5.2. Narratology and a Non-Literary Reading:
A Paradoxical Result 256
5.3. Storytelling and the Web of Life 261
5.4. The Critics 264

Bibliography 266
Index of References 275
Index of Authors 278
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was made possible by a grant from the Bank of Sweden
Tercentenary Foundation. For this I am very grateful.
There have been, of course, a lot of people involved in the process that
brought this book into being. I wish to thank my colleagues at the
University of Örebro for their support, in particular Professor Lars-Åke
Skalin. His support and his many excellent suggestions have been
invaluable. I also wish to thank Dr Lennart Boström of the Örebro Theo-
logical Seminary, who kindly read parts of the manuscript and provided
valuable comments. I would also like to thank Jennifer Palley for all her
kind help with my English.
It has been a pleasure to work with T&T Clark International, and I
wish to thank the editors of the LHBOTS series for accepting my work
for publication. I am very grateful to my copy-editor, Dr Duncan Burns,
for his hard work.