Literary and empirical readings of the books of Esther / A. Kay Fountain.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fountain, A. Kay (Allison Kay), 1951-

Series:

Studies in biblical literature 1089-0645 ; v. 43.

Studies in biblical literature, 1089-0645 ; v. 43

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. Esther--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Bible. Esther--Reader-response criticism.

Bible. Esther--Greek--Versions--Septuagint.

Bible. Esther--Greek--Versions--Alpha-text.

Bible. Esther.

Reader-response criticism.

Physical Description:

x, 314 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : P. Lang, [2002]

Contents:

Ethical Purpose in Biblical Narrative 1

Statement of the Problem 4

Method of Research 6

Hypotheses 6

Significance of the Study 6

Chapter 2 Review of Literature 13

Ethics 14

Law and Justice 17

Textual History 19

Effects of the Different Texts 21

Absence of God 22

Effect and Purpose of Biblical Narrative 23

Similar Recent Studies 25

Chapter 3 Literary Analysis Part One 31

Order of Story Elements 31

Narrative Speed 39

Summary of Effects Related to Order of Story Element and Narrative Speed 69

Summary of Textual Tendencies Observed 70

Chapter 4 Literary Analysis Part Two 75

Point of View/Perspective 75

Summary of Effects Related to Perspective 125

Summary of Textual Tendencies Observed 127

Chapter 5 Miscellaneous Literary Effects 131

Close analysis of the Speech 131

Repetition 138

Use of Passive Forms of Verbs 152

Other Miscellaneous Differences between the Texts 161

Summary of Effects Created by Miscellaneous Literary Features 162

Summary of Textual Tendencies Observed 162

Chapter 6 Methods of Research and Procedures 167

Design and Subjects 167

Materials 168

Procedure 170

Results 170

Chapter 7 Discussion and Conclusions 211

Theoretical Perceptions from the AT 211

Theoretical Perceptions from the BT 213

Theoretical Perceptions from the MT 215

Results with Respect to Ethical Teaching 217

Empirical Results in Relation to the Characters 219

Theoretical Analysis Related to the Empirical Results 228

Fruitful Areas of Further Research 230

Appendix A Texts as Given to Readers 235

Appendix B Questionnaire as Handed to Readers 273

Appendix C ANOVA Tables 277

Appendix D Stages of Moral Reasoning 285

Appendix E Raw Data from the Empirical Study 289.

Notes:

Study of the Masoretic, Septuagint, and Alpha text versions of the book of Esther.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [301]-305) and indexes.

ISBN:

0820455709

OCLC:

49356031