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ROLAND BOER (ed.), Bakhtin and Genre Theory in Biblical Studies (SBLSS 63; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007). Pp. viii + 238. Paper $25.95.
This collection of essays applies Mikhail Bakhtin's literary theory to the topic of genre in biblical texts. An outgrowth of the "Bakhtin and Genre" session at the SBL annual meeting in San Antonio in 2004, the book offers solid discussions of aspects of Bakhtin's theory and applies them to specific biblical passages. Some of the essays are devoted predominantly to theory and others deal with the text itself. One essay addresses the intersection of biblical and contemporary literature with a discussion of Toni Morrison's Beloved.
The book includes fourteen essays, the first of which is Roland Boer, "Introduction: Bakhtin, Genre and Biblical Studies" (pp. 1-8). The eleven essays that constitute the body of the work are Martin J. Buss, "Dialogue in and among Genres" (pp. 9-18); Carol A. Newsom, "Spying Out the Land: A Report from Genology" (pp. 1 9-30); Christine Mitchell, "Power, Eros, and Biblical Genres" (pp. 31-42); Barbara Green, "Experiential Learning: The Construction of Jonathan in the Narrative of Saul and David" (pp. 43-62); Judy Fentress- Williams, "Location, Location, Location: Tamar in the Joseph Cycle" (pp. 63-68); Carleen Mandolfo, "Dialogic Form Criticism: An Intertextual Reading of Lamentations and Psalms of Lament" (pp. 69-90); David M. Valeta, "Polyglossia and Parody: Language in Daniel 1-6" (pp. 91-108); Michael E. Vines, "The Apocalyptic Chronotope" (pp. 109-18); Christopher C. Fuller, "Matthew's Genealogy as Eschatological Satire: Bakhtin Meets Form Criticism" (pp. 1...