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Judges 19-21 and Ruth: Canon as a Voice of Answerability

Matheny, Jennifer (2018) Judges 19-21 and Ruth: Canon as a Voice of Answerability. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent, Canterbury. (KAR id:75992)

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Abstract

This dissertation was birthed out of a desire to investigate the possibility of potential canonical voices of answerability (responsibility) for the voiceless women of Judges 19-21. Bakhtin's dialogism became the heuristic in which to pursue this investigation. Bakhtin's use in Biblical Studies has influenced this project in three main areas: (1) the polyphonic nature of canon, (2) the quest for marginalized voices, and (3) genre considerations of Judges 19-21 and the book of Ruth. This study will also, in thinking with Brevard Childs, takes a canonical approach to the texts in polyphonic dialogue. Previous scholarship has hinted at the connection for Judges 19-21 and Ruth (as set in dialogue), but there has yet been a study to articulate just how these two texts are set in dialogue. This study has sought a way forward to understand the canonical place of dialogue for Judges 19-21 and Ruth. In this study, the primary placement of Judges 19¬-21 and Ruth in dialogue was established for three primary reasons: (1) its placement in the Septuagint and Vulgate immediately after Judges, (2) the literary connection in Ruth 1:1-i.e., in "The days the judges were judging," an (3) The juxtaposition of feminine silence (Judges 19-21) with feminine dialogue (Ruth). The outcome of this research has illustrated that there are canonical intertextual voices for the voiceless women in Judges 19-21. The intrinsic genre of משל within the Hebrew Bible proved to be a constructive pursuit in identifying the form and function of these two texts, illustrating that genre provides another canonical voice of answerability. Finally, through a close reading of intertextual utterances (significant words and idioms), Ruth as a text and as a woman embodies a voice of response and responsibility to the silenced and abused women in Judges 19-21.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD))
Thesis advisor: Sherwood, Yvonne
Thesis advisor: Blanton, Ward
Uncontrolled keywords: Judges 19-21, Ruth, Canon, Bakhtin, Answerability, Violence, Dialogue, Dialogism, Polyphonic, Utterance, Silence, Ambiguity
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Culture and Languages
SWORD Depositor: System Moodle
Depositing User: System Moodle
Date Deposited: 27 Aug 2019 11:10 UTC
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2022 20:58 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/75992 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Matheny, Jennifer.

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