Biblical Narrative
Leo Staley
Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter
A Critical Book Review The Art of Biblical Narrative, by Robert Alter, presents us with an introduction to a literary approach to the Bible. Specifically, he treats the prose of the Bible as highly sophisticated fictional narrative for the purposes of literary and analysis, countering notions that the often bewildering features encountered in it are a result of primitive writing technique or confused synthesis of varied sources. After opening with an introductory example and a survey of the current state of the literary study of the Bible (as of 31 years ago at least), he moves on to the core of his argument. He begins by discussing prose fiction and sacred narrative in general, and then moves on to discuss the use of convention within Biblical narratives. Next is the function of, and relationship between, narration and dialogue in the Bible. Next is the Biblically ubiquitous rhetorical device of repetition. Next he discusses the way the Bible deliberately leaves out details where our modern ears would expect them. After that, he analyzes the multi-sourced aspect of the Bible. Finally, he restates and expands the earlier discussion of the purpose and value of fiction and why it appears as it does in the Bible. First I will distill the gist of his theses, and then I will offer my own commentary. Alter’s first and central thesis, that, in terms of literary genre, the Biblical narratives are prose fiction, specifically, vacillating between historicized prose fiction and fictionalized prose history. Some important explanation: First, this terminology is primarily meant to indicate the literary sophistication of the narratives in contrast to the terms commonly given to them, legend, folklore, fairy tales, sagas, anecdotes, etc. The stories are not primitively inferior, as our modern ears are apt to hear many of the foreign literary devices, but rather, understood in their context, they are meticulously
Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter
A Critical Book Review The Art of Biblical Narrative, by Robert Alter, presents us with an introduction to a literary approach to the Bible. Specifically, he treats the prose of the Bible as highly sophisticated fictional narrative for the purposes of literary and analysis, countering notions that the often bewildering features encountered in it are a result of primitive writing technique or confused synthesis of varied sources. After opening with an introductory example and a survey of the current state of the literary study of the Bible (as of 31 years ago at least), he moves on to the core of his argument. He begins by discussing prose fiction and sacred narrative in general, and then moves on to discuss the use of convention within Biblical narratives. Next is the function of, and relationship between, narration and dialogue in the Bible. Next is the Biblically ubiquitous rhetorical device of repetition. Next he discusses the way the Bible deliberately leaves out details where our modern ears would expect them. After that, he analyzes the multi-sourced aspect of the Bible. Finally, he restates and expands the earlier discussion of the purpose and value of fiction and why it appears as it does in the Bible. First I will distill the gist of his theses, and then I will offer my own commentary. Alter’s first and central thesis, that, in terms of literary genre, the Biblical narratives are prose fiction, specifically, vacillating between historicized prose fiction and fictionalized prose history. Some important explanation: First, this terminology is primarily meant to indicate the literary sophistication of the narratives in contrast to the terms commonly given to them, legend, folklore, fairy tales, sagas, anecdotes, etc. The stories are not primitively inferior, as our modern ears are apt to hear many of the foreign literary devices, but rather, understood in their context, they are meticulously