Are We Amused? Humour About Women In the Biblical World

by Athalya Brenner

Publisher:

T&T Clark

, 2003

Overview

Biblical humor about women and gender remains elusive for many readers, for its recognition may imply the realization that it’s a cruel and disrespectful humor, ridicule rather than good-natured fun. But viewing humor as social critique, as is largely done in the essays in this volume, with respect to both the texts read and their actual or implied author, may be fun as well as significant for understanding the biblical world.

As most of the essays show, writing about women is writing about men as well. In other words, it is writing about gender roles. The critique of women serves as a critique of men, manhood, and maleness in the texts, of the text’s authors, and of the texts’ commentators and readers.

Contributions to this volume include:

• "Those Riotous—Yet Righteous—Foremothers of Jesus: Exploring Matthew’s Comic Genealogy" by F. Scott Spencer
• "'More Righteous Than I': The Comeuppance of the Trickster in Genesis 38" by Mary E. Shields
• "Humor, Turnabouts, and Survival in the Book of Esther" by Kathleen M. O’Connor
• "Is that Fearfully Funny? Some Instances from the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books" by Toni Craven
• "At the Expense of Women: Humor in Acts 16.14–40" by Kathy Williams
• "Are We Amused? Small and Big Differences in Josephus’ Re-Presentations of Biblical Female Figures in the Jewish Antiquities 1–8" by Athalya Brenner
• "Ooooh, Onan! Geschlechtgeschicte and Women in the Biblical World" by Gale A. Yee
• "Women’s Humor and Other Creative Juices" by Amy-Jill Levine
• "Laugh With/At/As Women: How Should We Read Biblical Humor?" by Esther Fuchs

Key Features

• Articles by notable authors from a variety of backgrounds
• Textual and literary notes
• All Scripture references linked to the Bibles in your library

Product Details

• Title: Are We Amused? Humour About Women In the Biblical World
• Author: Athalya Brenner
• Publisher: Continuum
• Series: Gender and the Bible Collection
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 176

About Athalya Brenner

Althayla Brenner is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament in the Biblical Studies section of Religious Studies in the Department of Art, Religion and Culture (KRC), Faculty of the Humanities, University of Amsterdam. She previously taught biblical studies at Oranim College of Education/University of Haifa, Israel. Her many publications include Colour Terms in the Old Testament, The Israelite Woman and Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna (included in Studies in Old Testament Themes) and contributed to Semeia: An Experimental Journal for Biblical Criticism.