Committee Chair

Guy, Matthew W.

Committee Member

Rehyansky, Katherine H.; Hampton, Bryan

Department

Dept. of English

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

This study engages the biblical Book of Job, subsequent medieval commentaries, and literary sources from the 15 through 20 centuries that use the language and motifs canonized in the Book of Job. This thesis is primarily concerned with the multiple stylistic elements used in the work and how they constitute a discourse of their own, or as has been sometimes asserted by critics, “competing narratives.” This discourse then finds voice in the usage of the Joban motif by other authors in works of ambiguous genre, lending credence to the complicated and multifaceted nature of the Book of Job’s genre and message`. Particularly, it speaks against the traditional interpretation of the Book of Job as either a pedagogical lesson in suffering and temperance, or as an examination of tragedy, since multiple sources from Dante, to Chaucer, to Milton create dissonant discourses that leave the book emotionally and philosophically open. It remains an unfinished document endorsing only the redemptive nature of creation and creative acts both through its multiple discourses and G’d’s marvelous visual narrative at the end.

Degree

M. A.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts.

Date

12-2009

Subject

Bible. -- Job -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Discipline

English Language and Literature

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

iv, 49 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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