Poetic violence

Following Husserl, Roman Jakobson insisted that linguistic sounds cannot be separated from the meaning of words. In his essay on Russian Formalism in The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism, Vol. 8: From Formalism to Poststructuralism (24-5), Peter Steiner explains: “Edmund . . . . Continue Reading »

What Is Biblical Theology?

James Hamilton answers in his terrific What Is Biblical Theology?: A Guide to the Bible’s Story, Symbolism, and Patterns : Biblical theology is “the interpretive perspective of the biblical writers (15). This includes the way later writers interpret and reapply earlier Scriptures, the . . . . Continue Reading »

SuperDupercessionism

Orthodox Christianity is often accused of fomenting antisemitism because of its “supercessionist” conviction that Christianity overcomes and replaces Judaism. Antisemitism is more accurately the product of the abandonment of orthodoxy. In a fine essay on Erich Auerbach , Arthur Krystal . . . . Continue Reading »

Faithful Exegesis

Ignacio Carbajosa’s Faith, the Fount of Exegesis: The Interpretation of Scripture in the Light of the History of Research on the Old Testament answers John Ratzinger’s twofold call for a “criticism of criticism” and for a renewal of faithful, faith-filled exegesis. With . . . . Continue Reading »

Complex grammars

Steven Pinker ( The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language ) contrasts the English dative with the same form in Kivunjo, spoken in Tanzania: “The English construction is called the dative and is found in sentences like She baked me a brownie and He promised her Arpege, where an . . . . Continue Reading »

Word and World

It’s a common assumption today that literary structure and factual accuracy are at odds with one another. If a text displays some artistry, it’s a signal that we shouldn’t take it seriously as a historical source. The assumption is baseless on the face of things. All historians . . . . Continue Reading »

Conversation

Wittgenstein said ( Philosophical Investigations (3rd Edition) , 363), “We are so much accustomed to communication through speaking, in conversation, that it looks to us as if the whole point of communication lay in this: someone else grasps the sense of my words—which is something . . . . Continue Reading »

Arbitrary sign?

In his Problems in General Linguistics , Emile Benveniste criticizes Saussure’s claim that the relation between the signifier (the sound sequence) and the signified (the concept) is arbitrary, often using Saussure’s own work to advance the critique. Benvenist argues that, Saussure to . . . . Continue Reading »