Topics in Judaism (339-0-1)

Topic

The Art of Rabbinic Narative

Instructors

Barry Wimpfheimer
847 4912618
Crowe Hall, 1860 Campus Drive, 4-140
Barry Wimpfheimer is an assistant professor of Religious Studies and Law at Northwestern University. A specialist in Ancient Judaism, and particularly the Talmud, Wimpfheimer is interested in the relationship betweeen Jewish Law and the traditional literature and culture of Judaism. He is the author of Narrating the Law: A Poetics of Talmudic Legal Stories.

Meeting Info

University Hall 118: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Rabbinic literature contains a large corpus of stories. In this course we will explore different methods of reading such stories. These range from naïve historiography to sophisticated historiography, from reading these stories as fables with didactic morals to reading them as windows onto a class-stratified and gender-divided rabbinic culture. Our analysis of these methods of reading rabbinic stories will be conducted in conversation with different literary theorists.

Learning Objectives

• To gain exposure to Rabbinic Culture through Rabbinic stories
• To develop techniques for reading such stories
• To develop an understanding of literary theory than can be applied to other contexts

Class Materials (Required)

1. Rabbinic Stories (RS) by Jeffrey Rubenstein. This book offers translations of selected stories from Rabbinic literature. Rabbinic Stories
2. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (LT) by Jonathan Culler. This book is a very good and brief introduction to a difficult topic. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Edition

Class Attributes

Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Ethics & Values Distro Area