Uses and abuses of Moses : literary representations since the Enlightenment / Theodore Ziolkowski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ziolkowski, Theodore, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

European literature--History and criticism.

American literature--History and criticism.

Literature, Modern--History and criticism.

Moses (Biblical leader)--In literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Notre Dame, Indiana : University of Notre Dame Press, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"In Uses and Abuses of Moses, Theodore Ziolkowski surveys the major literary treatments of the biblical figure of Moses since the Enlightenment. Beginning with the influential treatments by Schiller and Goethe, for whom Moses was, respectively, a member of a mystery cult and a violent murderer, Ziolkowski examines an impressive array of dramas, poems, operas, novels, and films to show the many ways in which the charismatic figure of Moses has been exploited--the "uses and abuses" of the title--to serve a variety of ideological and cultural purposes. Ziolkowski's wide-ranging and in-depth study compares and analyzes the attempts by nearly one hundred writers to fill in the gaps in the biblical account of Moses' life and to explain his motivation as a leader, lawgiver, and prophet. As Ziolkowski richly demonstrates, Moses' image has been affected by historical factors such as the Egyptomania of the 1820s, the revolutionary movements of the mid-nineteenth century, the early move toward black liberation in the United States, and critical biblical scholarship of the late nineteenth century before, in the twentieth century, being appropriated by Marxists, Socialists, Nazis, and Freudians. The majority of the works studied are by Austro-German and Anglo-American writers, but Ziolkowski also includes significant examples of works from Hungary, Sweden, Norway, the Ukraine, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, and France. The figure of Moses becomes an animate seismograph, in Ziolkowski's words, through whose literary reception we can trace many of the shifts in the cultural landscape of the past two centuries. "With Uses and Abuses of Moses: Literary Representations since the Enlightenment, Theodore Ziolkowski has delivered a magisterial account of the history of uses of Moses. Professor Ziolkowski is the preeminent interpreter of how the Bible has been received by and has shaped modern literature; this book demonstrates an encyclopedic breadth of vision as well as a concise and convincing assessment of significance. I can't think of any literary scholar who manages to combine so successfully a comprehensive view of a vast literary landscape, incisive judgment, and crisp, enjoyable prose." --John Barbour, St. Olaf College "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

USES AND ABUSES OF MOSES

Title

Copyright

Dedication

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

ONE. Nineteenth-Century Evolutions

TWO. Postfigurations of Moses

THREE. Fin-de-Siècle Variations

FOUR. The Jewish Renaissance

FIVE. Moses Viewed Askance

SIX. Politicizations of the Twenties

SEVEN. Fresh Starts in the Forties

EIGHT. Denominational Moses

NINE. The Fifties and Beyond

TEN. Toward the Twenty-First Century

Conclusion

Notes

Chronological List of Works Treated

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780268098520

0268098522

9780268098551

0268098557

OCLC:

940455465