Author Description
Are We Not Men? Offers An Innovative Approach To Gender And Embodiment In The Hebrew Bible, Revealing The Male Body As A Source Of Persistent Difficulty For The Hebrew Prophets. Drawing Together Key Moments In Prophetic Embodiment, Graybill Demonstrates That The Prophetic Body Is A Queer Body, And Its Very Instability Makes Possible New Understandings Of Biblical Masculinity. Prophecy Disrupts The Performance Of Masculinity And Demands New Ways Of Inhabiting The Body And Negotiating Gender. Graybill Explores Prophetic Masculinity Through Critical Readings Of A Number Of Prophetic Bodies, Including Isaiah, Moses, Hosea, Jeremiah, And Ezekiel. In Addition To Close Readings Of The Biblical Texts, This Account Engages With Modern Intertexts Drawn From Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, And Horror Films: Isaiah Meets The Poetry Of Anne Carson; Hosea Is Seen Through The Lens Of Possession Films And Feminist Film Theory; Jeremiah Intersects With Psychoanalytic Discourses Of Hysteria; And Ezekiel Encounters Daniel Paul Schreber's Memoirs Of My Nervous Illness. Graybill Also Offers A Careful Analysis Of The Body Of Moses. Her Methods Highlight Unexpected Features Of The Biblical Texts, And Illuminate The Peculiar Intersections Of Masculinity, Prophecy, And The Body In And Beyond The Hebrew Bible. This Assembly Of Prophets, Bodies, And Readings Makes Clear That Attending To Prophecy And To Prophetic Masculinity Is An Important Task For Queer Reading. Biblical Prophecy Engenders New Forms Of Masculinity And Embodiment; Are We Not Men?offers A Valuable Map Of This Still-uncharted Terrain.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This work investigates how the male body serves as a site of persistent difficulty and instability within the Hebrew Bible, specifically through the lens of prophetic figures. Rhiannon Graybill, a scholar of biblical studies, utilizes a multidisciplinary framework to argue that the prophetic body functions as a queer body. By integrating psychoanalysis, feminist film theory, and philosophy, she demonstrates how the act of prophecy disrupts traditional performances of masculinity and necessitates new modes of bodily inhabitation.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Critical readings of prophetic figures including Isaiah, Moses, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
- Interdisciplinary analysis connecting biblical texts to modern intertexts like horror films and psychoanalytic discourse.
- A theoretical framework for understanding masculinity as a performative and unstable construct within ancient religious literature.
Scope Limits
- The analysis is restricted to the Hebrew Bible and does not extend to New Testament prophetic traditions.
- The study focuses specifically on the intersection of masculinity and embodiment rather than a comprehensive historical survey of all prophetic roles.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars in the field of biblical studies and queer theory recognize this text as a significant contribution to the study of gendered embodiment in ancient texts. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the innovative nature of the author's intertextual methodology.
Page Count:
256
Publication Date:
2016-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190227370
ISBN-13:
9780190227371
Queer Theory
Gender Studies
Theology