The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading [Paperback]

This . . . is a brilliant work. Choice

[Sternberg] has written a very important book, both for his comprehensiveness and for the clearly-avowed faith stance from which he understands and interprets the strategies of the biblical narratives. . . . a superb overview . . . Theological Studies

. . . rated very highly indeed. It is a book to read and then reread. Modern Language Review

. . . Sternberg has accomplished an enormous task, enriching our understanding of the theoretical basis of biblical narrative and giving us insight into a remarkable number of particular texts. Journal of the American Academy of Religion

. . . an important book for those who seek to take the Bible seriously as a literary work because it shows, more clearly and emphatically than any book I know, that the Bible is a serious literary worka text manifesting a highly sophisticated and successful narrative poetics. Adele Berlin, Prooftexts

Preface

1. Literary Text, Literary Approach: Getting the Questions Straight
Discourse and Source
Fiction and History
Form and Doctrine
The Drama of Reading

2. Narrative Models

3. Ideology of Narration and Narration of Ideology
Omniscience Charged and Monopolized: The Epistemological Revolution
The Omnipotence Effect: Control Claimed and Disclaimed

4. Viewpoints and Interpretations
Point of View and Its Biblical Configuration
The Wooing of Rebekah
Positions and Discrepancies Established
The Movement form Divergence to Convergence of Perspectives
New Tensions and Final Resolution

5. The Play of Perspectives
Narrator vs. God
Narrator and Reader vs. God and Characters Spheres of Communication
Three Reading Positions
From Plot to Perspective
From Ignorance to Knowledge
Privilege and Performance

6. Gaps, Ambiquity and the Reading Process
The Literary Work as a System of Gaps
The Story of David and BatlcM