ANTHR 7463 - [Modes of Jewish Textuality]

(crosslisted) COML 6463, JWST 7463

Fall. Not offered: 2020-2021. Next offered: 2021-2022. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Co-meets with ANTHR 4463/COML 4463/JWST 4463.

J. Boyarin.

From the Bible to the Babylonian Talmud to a graphic novel edition of the Book of Esther, texts–their composition, transmission, study and debate—have been at the core of Jewish culture for millennia, whether in diaspora or in the Land. They remain a central technology for the continuation and transformation of an identity that is rich, multiform, unique, and yet open to new influences and interactions. Approaching the varieties of textuality is one way to contemplate the broad sweep of Jewish cultural history. In this course we will consider questions of canonicity, differential access to textual authority by class and gender, the relation between alphabetical and graphic representation, and by no means least, the perenniality of Jewish humor.