92936 - Bible Literature (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Upon a successful completion of this course, students will achieve basic notions and skills in interpreting Biblical texts as literature, and re-framing their production and fortune as a distinctively historical, philological and literary phenomenon, between authoring and copying, translating and interpreting, from the Ancient Near East down to the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean world and contemporary literature.

Course contents

"In the Beginning": Writing and Re-Writing the Genesis.

In the economy of the historical and ideological construction of 'Israel' that takes shape throughout the books of Genesis-2 Kings, the first three chapters of the book of Genesis play a key-role in inscribing the socio-cultural imagination of the Judaite elite returning from Babylonia (6th-5th century BCE) in the 'real' order, the 'natural' order, of things. The course aims firstly to critically re-read and sketch the complex birth process of these chapters both within the framework of ancient Near East literatures and in relationship with Greek literary production - if there is any to be detected. Case studies of its reception will then be presented, ranging from the first re-writings to contemporary versions and reprises, in poetry as well as in divulgative scientific literature.

More specifically, the course will address the following issues:

1^st part (10hs):

– the state of the art: problems, 'sources', models;

– Biblical Genesis and Near Eastern 'Genesis';

– the origin of the world between the Near East and Ancient Greece;

2^nd part (10hs):

– historical, philological and literary analysis of Genesis;

3^rd part (10hs):

– case studies in the reception history of Genesis.

 

N.B. No previous knowledge of Hebrew phonetics/grammar required. Translations from the Hebrew text will be provided during the course by the teacher.

Readings/Bibliography

a) Translations:

Genesi, in La Bibbia dei Settanta. I: Pentateuco, a cura di P. Sacchi, Morcelliana 2013 (esclusivamente per gli studenti di filologia classica);

Genesis, in Biblia Sacra Vulgata, ediderunt R. Weber-R. Gryson, Stuttgart 1969 (quinta ediz. 2007; esclusivamente per gli studenti di filologia classica);

Genesi, a cura di P. De Benedetti, traduzione di F. Nardoni, introduzione di S. Rose, Einaudi 2000;

Genesi. Traduzione interlineare italiana, a cura di R. Reggi, EDB 2003;

Genesi, in Bibbia. Antico Testamento, vol. I, a cura di E. Bianchi, M. Cucca, F. Giuntoli, L. Monti, Einaudi 2021.

b) Introductions to Near-Eastern 'Genesis':

J.P. Allen, Genesis in Egypt. The Philosophy of Ancient Egyptian Creation Accounts, Yale Egyptological Seminar 1988 (and subsequent editions); 

B.D. Ehrman, L'Antico Testamento. Un'introduzione, Carocci 2023, pp. 17-96;

M. Esnoul et al. (eds.), La naissance du monde, Du Seuil 1959, pp. 93-152, 175-234 and 299-328.

c) Studies

1. Integral Readings for Attending Students

P. Boitani, Rifare la Bibbia. Ri-scritture letterarie, Il Mulino 2021;

G. Garbini, Letteratura e politica nell'Israele biblico, Paideia 2010;

R.G. Kratz, Israele storico e biblico. Storia, tradizione, archivi, GBP 2021;

M. Liverani, Oltre la Bibbia. Storia antica di Israele, Laterza 2003 (and subsequent editions);

M. Satlow, E il Signore parlò a Mosè. Come la Bibbia divenne sacra, Bollati Boringhieri 2017;

F. Stavrakopoulou, Anatomia di Dio, Bollati Boringhieri 2022;

G.M. Vian, I libri di Dio. Breve storia dei testi cristiani, Carocci 2020.

2. Integral Readings for Non-Attending Students

C. Martone, Il Giudaismo antico 538 a.e.v.-70 e.v., Carocci 2008 (and subsequent editions);

P. Merlo, La religione dell'antico Israele, Carocci 2009;

W.M. Schniedewind, The Finger of the Scribe. How Scribes Learned to Write the Bible, Oxford University Press 2019.

Teaching methods

Lectures; analysis of literary texts; use of bibliographic and electronic databases; audio- and video resources.

Assessment methods

Oral exam. Students will have to prove their abilities

• to read and understand Genesis in Greek or Latin (required exclusively of Classical Philology students) or alternatively in a modern translation (supra, Bibliography under the entry Translations);
• to interpret and profile Genesis as a cultural, historical and literary artifact, supplementing and integrating class notes with the introductions cited supra in Bibliography under the entry Introductions to Near Eastern 'Genesis';
• to sketch and discuss the material, historical, and cultural processes that lead to the formation of Israel's sacred writings as we know them, or alternatively the trajectories of their fortune and reception, in the light of one reading of their choice selected from the list offered supra in Bibliography under the entry Studies, point 1. (Integral Readings for Attending Students);

Additionally, students who cannot attend the lessons will substitute class notes with one volume of their choice to be selected among those listed supra in Bibliography under the entry Studies, point 2. (Integral Readings for Non-Attending Students).

Skills will be assessed according to the following guidelines:
- failing grade (< 18): inability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin text of the book of Genesis (exclusively required of LM15 students); inability to provide a correct interpretation of the texts discussed during the course or, as for non-attending students, to comment on the critical essays of their choice.
- passing grade (between 18 and 24): elementary ability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin text of the book of Genesis (exclusively required of LM15 students); inaccuracy and lack of autonomy in providing a correct interpretation of the texts discussed during the course or, as for non-attending students, in commenting on critical essays of their choice.
- positive grade (between 24 and 30): good comprehension of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin text of the book of Genesis (exclusively required of LM15 students); interpretation of the texts discussed during the course is correct, but mostly superficial and not entirely autonomous; as for non-attending students, the critical essays of their choice are cursorily commented upon.
- excellent grade (30L): in-depth knowledge of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin text of the book of Genesis (exclusively required of LM15 students); precision and full autonomy in interpreting, contextualizing and critically comparing the texts discussed during the course; as for non-attending students, critical discussion of the essays of their choice is detailed and deep-ranging.

Teaching tools

Computer and projector; bibliographic and electronic databases; fotocopies; texts and segments of texts in PDF format uploaded by the teacher as teaching materials (downloadable from https://iol.unibo.it).

Office hours

See the website of Daniele Tripaldi