The Captivity of Innocence: Babel and the Yahwist - Softcover

LaCocque, André

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1608993531 ISBN 13: 9781608993536

Publisher: Cascade Books, 2010

Synopsis

Synopsis: In this study-the third panel of a trilogy on J's tales about evil and innocence in the primeval era-the author turns to Genesis 11:1-9, another parable, this time on the so-called "Tower of Babel." The Captivity of Innocence analyzes a systemic robotization of society as a way of keeping innocence behind bars, contending that innocence never fails to offend, never fails to stir envy and hate. Here, evil is not wrought by an individual like Cain or Lamech, but by "all the earth," so that the summit of evil is now reached before Abraham's breakthrough in Genesis' following chapter. The present analysis uses a variety of techniques to interpret the biblical text, including historical-critical, literary, sociopolitical, psychoanalytic, and deconstructive approaches. The inescapable conclusion is that "Babel" is the "Kafkaesque" image of our world and is a powerful paradigm of our hubristic contrivances and constructions-"Des Tours de Babel," says Derrida-in order to deny our finiteness. Then innocence is trampled upon, but it is not overcome: Babel/Babylon's fate is to crumble down, and to bring up from her ashes the Knight of Faith. 

 

About this title

About the Author

André LaCocque is Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Bible at Chicago Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, and the founding Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Studies at CTS. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Ruth: A Continental Commentary (Augsburg Fortress), Esther Regina: A Bakhtinian Reading (Northwestern University Press), and the trilogy on innocence in the Hebrew Bible, The Trial of Innocence: Adam, Eve and the Yahwist (Wipf and Stock), Onslaught Against Innocence: Cain, Abel and the Yahwist, and The Captivity of Innocence: Babel and the Yahwist (both from Cascade). He also coauthored Thinking Biblically:Exegetical and Hermeneutical Studies with Paul Ricoeur.

From the Back Cover

"Breaking free from the compartmentalized exegesis of traditional commentaries, LaCocque suggests some lively, diverse, and somehow splintered leads of interpretation for Babel. Giving up the illusion of producing the meaning of the text, juxtaposing instead various approaches and ways to translate and understand it, he echoes the teaching of this moral tale: men's calling is to understand each other without denying their differences, without submitting to any unifying tyrant." --Hubert Bost Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris-Sorbonne)

"There are few scholars in the world today who can combine expertise in Hebrew and biblical scholarship with intimate familiarity with leading figures in theory and philosophy. The range of disciplinary languages brought together in this new Babel is deeply impressive; the conversation is genuine, rich, and insightful." --Yvonne Sherwood Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies University of Glasgow

Edition details

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1608993531
• ISBN 13: 9781608993536
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 206