Complexes of Emotions in Joseph and Aseneth

The ancient Greek novel introduced to the history of literature a new topos: the “complex of emotions.” This became a staple of storytelling and remains widely in use across a variety of genres to the present day. The Hellenistic Jewish text Joseph and Aseneth employs this topos in at least three pa...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Smith, Tyler (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Sage 2021
In: Journal for the study of the pseudepigrapha
Year: 2021, Volume: 30, Issue: 3, Pages: 133-155
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Joseph and Aseneth / Early Judaism / topos / Emotional behavior / Mixed marriage / Monolatry / Image veneration
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
Further subjects:B ancient novel—literary conventions
B Joseph and Aseneth
B Emotion
B Conversion
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:The ancient Greek novel introduced to the history of literature a new topos: the “complex of emotions.” This became a staple of storytelling and remains widely in use across a variety of genres to the present day. The Hellenistic Jewish text Joseph and Aseneth employs this topos in at least three passages, where it draws attention to the cognitive-emotional aspect of the heroine’s conversion. This is interesting for what it contributes to our understanding of the genre of Aseneth, but it also has social-historical implications. In particular, it supports the idea that Aseneth reflects concerns about Gentile partners in Jewish-Gentile marriages, that Gentile partners might convert out of expedience or that they might be less than fully committed to abandoning “idolatrous” attachments. The representations of deep, grievous, and complex emotions in Aseneth’s transformational turn from idolatry to monolatry, then, might play a psychagogic role for the Gentile reader interested in marrying a Jewish person.
ISSN:1745-5286
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the pseudepigrapha
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0951820720948245