Paratext and Megatext as Channels of Jewish and Christian Traditions : The Textual Markers of Contextualization

Hollander, August den and Ulrich Schmid and Willem F Smelik (editors). Paratext and Megatext as Channels of Jewish and Christian Traditions : The Textual Markers of Contextualization
. Leiden: Brill, 2003. First edition. Octavo. xvi, 202, (2)pp. Index. Text in English with occasional Hebrew. Blue buckram, spine lettered in white & gray. Illustrated with 3 text figures. An ex-library copy but with minimal markings (rubber stamp on title page & bottom of text block), otherwise fine.

Religious traditions are channeled to new audiences by textual markers, which inform their understanding and influence. Such markers are signs of contextualisation which belong to the paratext of a tradition: textual elements that do not belong to the core text itself but belong to their embedding and as such affect their reception. Alternatively, some texts function purposely in tandem with another text, and cannot be understood without that text. While the second text informs the way the first one is being understood, it can hardly function independently. The discussions include the arrangement of textual blocks in the Hebrew Bible; how the oral transmission of Jewish Aramaic Bible translations had to be recited as a counterpoint to the Hebrew chant; how synagogue poetry presupposes the channels of liturgical instruction; how the Talmud can be perceived as a translation of Mishnah; how the presence of paratextual elements such as annotations and prefaces influenced the Index Librorum Prohibitorum concerning 16th century Bibles; the function of paratext and scope for modern Bible translations. This volume will tentatively explore the wide range of paratext and megatext as devices of channeling religious traditions. (Publisher)

Contents: Jeremiah 23:1-8 : shepherds in diachronic perspective / Rosalie Kuyvenhoven. — Matthew 5:17-18 in the light of Qumran scribal practice / Siam Bhayro. — Orality, manuscript reproduction, and the targums / Willem Smelik. — The task of the talmud : on talmud as translation / Aryeh Cohen. — “Oh my dove, let me see your face!” Targum, Piyyut, and the literary life of the ancient synagogue / Laura Lieber. — ” … so that those who read the (Biblical) text and the commentary do not correct one after the other” (Zachary of Besançon). Some observations on the textual traditions of two 12th-century Latin gospel harmony commentaries / Ulrich Schmid. — Forbidden Bibles : paratext and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Why Dutch Bibles were placed on the 1546-Louvain index / August den Hollander. — Paratext and skopos of Bible translations / Lourens de Vries. (OCLC)

Volume 6 of the Brill, “Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series.” near fine. Hardcover. (53335) $95