Are We Amused?: Humour About Women In the Biblical World

Athalya Brenner-Idan

Nov 2003 · Bloomsbury Publishing

About this ebook

Biblical humor about women and gender remains elusive for many readers, for its recognition may imply the realization that it's a cruel and disrespectful humor, ridicule rather than good-natured fun. But viewing humor as social critique, as is largely done in the essays in this volume, with respect to both the texts read and their actual or implied author, may be fun as well as significant for understanding the biblical worlds. As most of the essays show, writing about women is writing about men as well. In other words, it is writing about gender roles. The critique of women, womanhood and femaleness implied by biblical and related texts serves, in equal measure, as a critique of men, manhood and maleness in the texts, of the texts authors, and of the texts' commentators and readers.

Contributors include Scott Spencer, Mary Shields, Kathleen O'Connor, Toni Craven, Kathy Williams, Athalya Brenner, Gale Yee, Amy-Jill Levine, and Esther Fuchs.

About the author

Athalya Brenner-Idan is Professor Emerita of the HB OT Chair at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and currently Professor in Biblical Studies at the Department of Hebrew Culture Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel, and Research Associate at the Biblia Arabica Project there. In addition, she is Extraordinary Professor at the Department of OT/NT, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Her website is http://athalya-morah-letorah.com.