Ancient Fiction: The Matrix of Early Christian and Jewish Narrative (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781589831667)

The essays in this volume examine the relationship between ancient fiction in the Greco-Roman world and early Jewish and Christian narratives. They consider how those narratives imitated or exploited conventions of fiction to produce forms of literature that expressed new ideas or shaped community identity within the shifting social and political climates of their own societies. Major authors and texts surveyed include Chariton, Shakespeare, Homer, Vergil, Plato, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Daniel, 3 Maccabees, the Testament of Abraham, rabbinic midrash, the Apocryphal Acts, Ezekiel the Tragedian, and the Sophist Aelian. This diverse collection reveals and examines prevalent issues and syntheses in the making: the pervasive use and subversive power of imitation, the distinction between fiction and history, and the use of history in the expression of identity.

Author: Jo-Ann a. Brant
ISBN-10: 1589831667
ISBN-13: 9781589831667
Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
Language: English
Published: 10/12/2005
Pages: 372
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.26lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.87d