Biblical Narrative and the Death of the Rhapsode

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

Biblical Narrative and the Death of the Rhapsode Robert S. Kawashima INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS BLOOMINGTON AND INDIANAPOLIS Publication of this book is made possible in part by generous support from the Koret Foundation. Chapter 2 was originally published in Prooftexts 21 (2001): 158–78; publisher, Indiana University Press. An abridged version of chapter 6 previously appeared as: “Verbal Medium and Narrative Art in Homer and the Bible,” Philosophy and Literature 28 (2004): 103–17; publisher, The Johns Hopkins University Press. This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu© 2004 by Robert S. Kawashima All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kawashima, Robert S., date Biblical narrative and the death of the rhapsode / Robert S. Kawashima. p. cm. — (Indiana studies in biblical literature) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-253-34477-8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Narration in the Bible. 2. Bible—Criticism, Narrative. I. Title. II. Series. BS521.7.K38 2004 221.6'6—dc22 2004009431 1 2 3 4 5 09 08 07 06 05 04 Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. —Occam Sire, je n’ai pas eu besoin de cette hypothèse. —Laplace I wish to propose for the reader’s favourable consideration a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive . The doctrine in question is this: that it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. I must, of course, admit that if such an opinion became common it would completely transform our social life and our political system; since both are at present faultless, this must weigh against it. Bertrand Russell, Skeptical Essays, I ...