Pen and Scissors: A Medieval Debate
Close reading of a little known Hebrew medieval debate poem from the midfourteenth century suggests that the standard readings of the poem as political or religious allegory must be challenged. Shem Tov Ardutiel's "The Battle of the Pen and Scissors" is an unusual rhymed narrative whi...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
1995
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 1994, Volume: 65, Pages: 261-276 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Close reading of a little known Hebrew medieval debate poem from the midfourteenth century suggests that the standard readings of the poem as political or religious allegory must be challenged. Shem Tov Ardutiel's "The Battle of the Pen and Scissors" is an unusual rhymed narrative which features a debate between a pen and scissors over their relative superiority as writing instruments. What little attention this work has received has tended to address it as either a political allegory describing the downfall of Gonzalo Martinez de Oviedo, an advisor to Alfonso XI, or as a polemical response to the proselytizing of Alfonso of Burgos. The literary structure and content of the work suggest the inadequacy of these interpretations. A nexus of structural motifs — loss of speech, hostile surroundings, apparent self-contradiction, and the preference for poetry or prose — suggests parallels to other medieval narratives and merits further investigation. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
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