Preface; Abbreviations; Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION; Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY; Chapter 3 HISTORICAL CONTEXT; Chapter 4 DIVINE WARFARE; Chapter 5 THE CONVENTIONAL LANGUAGE OF WAR IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST; Chapter 6 THE RHETORIC OF VIOLENCE IN JOSHUA 1.1-9; Chapter 7 THE DISCURSIVE FUNCTION OF [Omitted] IN THE TEXT; Chapter 8 CONCLUSION; Bibliography; Index of References; Index of Authors
Summary
Joshua and the Rhetoric of Violence' examines the book of Joshua as a construction of national identity. This pioneering New Historicist analysis shows how the Deuteronomist used war oracle language and epic historical lore to negotiate sociopolitical boundaries. It asserts that text and context interacted in a programme consolidating King Josiah's authority in the wake of Assyrian imperial collapse. The book argues that the conquest narrative is not simple 'us against them' propaganda but a complex web of negotiations defining identity and otherness. The analysis draws on Foucault's principle
Notes
Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral--University of Cambridge)
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 184-191) and indexes
