"Call Me By Your Name": Critical Fabulation and the Woman of Judges 19
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Is anonymity a form of violence? The woman of Judges 19 endured gang-rape and dismemberment, and neither the Bible nor its ancient exegetes gave her a name. This article surveys the modern writers and scholars who chose new names for her, examining how their choices of names reflected their broader goals for retelling her story. From there, I turn to the broader fields of critical fabulation and literary onomastics, particularly as rooted in Black American experience. I confront the affective yearning that undergirded these naming attempts and their negotiation with archival absence. Naming is an act of power, and the choice to name this woman ultimately reflects our own decision: do we "rescue" her from anonymity or leave her to dwell in a space of abjection? The decision is less simple than it appears.
DOI: 10.17613/1p35b-cwx61
Authors: Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, Brownsmith, Esther
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4389575498