Local Incoherence, Global Coherence?: Allusion and the Readability of Ancient Israelite Literature
Does a lack of coherence always render a text “unreadable” or “unintelligible”? In this essay, I explore the relationships between three of De Beaugrande and Dressler’s standards of textuality: cohesion, coherence, and intertextuality (considered more narrowly here in the form of allusion). I consid...
Subtitles: | PART I: General |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
SA ePublications
2021
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In: |
Old Testament essays
Year: 2021, Volume: 34, Issue: 1, Pages: 141-164 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Literature
/ Israel (Motif)
/ Allusion
/ Coherence
/ Cohesion
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IxTheo Classification: | BH Judaism HA Bible HD Early Judaism KBL Near East and North Africa |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | Does a lack of coherence always render a text “unreadable” or “unintelligible”? In this essay, I explore the relationships between three of De Beaugrande and Dressler’s standards of textuality: cohesion, coherence, and intertextuality (considered more narrowly here in the form of allusion). I consider examples of textual allusion that readers have considered surprising, incongruous, or incoherent. I conclude that in some cases, there is reason to believe ancient Israelite writers employed allusion in such a way as to create incongruity and incoherence at local text-segment levels while creating a coherent argument at larger text-segment levels. In these cases, at least, the text is still “readable.” |
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ISSN: | 2312-3621 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Old Testament essays
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.17159/2312–3621/2021/v34n1a9 |