Eve's Journey: Feminine Images in Hebraic Literary Tradition

by Nehama Aschkenasy

Overview

In Eve's Journey, Nehama Aschkenasy traces the migration of several female images and feminine situations from their early appearances in Biblical writings to their incarnations in modern Hebraic literature. Focusing on the evolution of early female archetypes and prototypes, Aschkenasy uncovers the ancient roots of modern female characters and traces the changing cultural perceptions of women in Hebraic letters.

The author draws on the vast body of Hebraic literary documents to illustrate how the female character is a mirror of her times as well as being a product of her creator''s imagination and conception of the woman's role in society and in fiction. The historical spectrum, provided by a discussion of Biblical narratives, Midrashic sources, documents of the Jewish mystics, Hasidic tales, and modern Hebrew works, allows an understanding of the metamorphosis that the female figure has experienced in her literary odyssey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512800111
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	08/12/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Nehama Aschkenasy is Professor of Comparative Literacy and Cultural Studies, and Director of the Center for Judaic and Middle Eastern Studies, at the University of Connecticut, Stamford.

Table of Contents

Ackowledgments
Preface

1. The Mutation Feminine Otherness: A Historical Overview
—The Testimony of the Ancient Documents
—The Mutation of Feminine Otherness in Modern Hebrew Literature
2. Evil, Sex, and the Demonic
—Eve and the "Strange Woman" the Bible and Midrash
—Lilith in Person and in Disguise: Woman as Obstacle to Redemption
—Modern Incarnations of Eve and Lilith
3. The Empty Vessel: Woman as Mother
—Motherhood and History: The Ancient Ruth and Her Modern Namesake
—Sons and Mothers: The Dialectical Relatioship
4. Women and Oppression
—Women and the Patriarchal System
—Male Tyranny and Women's Sexuality
5. Female Strategy
—Tricksters and Wise Women
—From Wisdom to Fury
—Dissociation of the Self
—Retreat into the Feminine Sphere
—The "Jewess" and Outside Oppression

Epilogue
A Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

First published by the U. of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. Aschkenasy (Judaic and Middle Eastern studies, U. of Conn., Stamford) traces the migration of several female images and feminine situations from their early appearances in Biblical writings to their incarnations in modern Hebraic literature. The author's sources range from Biblical narratives to Midrashic sources, documents of the Jewish mystics, Hasidic tales, and modern Hebrew works. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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