In Uses and Abuses of Moses, Theodore Ziolkowski surveys the major
literary treatments of the biblical figure of Moses since the
Enlightenment. Beginning with the influential treatments by
Schiller and Goethe, for whom Moses was, respectively, a member of
a mystery cult and a violent murderer, Ziolkowski examines an
impressive array of dramas, poems, operas, novels, and films to
show the many ways in which the charismatic figure of Moses has
been exploited-the "uses and abuses" of the title-to serve a
variety of ideological and cultural purposes. Ziolkowski's
wide-ranging and in-depth study compares and analyzes the attempts
by nearly one hundred writers to fill in the gaps in the biblical
account of Moses' life and to explain his motivation as a leader,
lawgiver, and prophet. As Ziolkowski richly demonstrates, Moses'
image has been affected by historical factors such as the
Egyptomania of the 1820s, the revolutionary movements of the
mid-nineteenth century, the early move toward black liberation in
the United States, and critical biblical scholarship of the late
nineteenth century before, in the twentieth century, being
appropriated by Marxists, Socialists, Nazis, and Freudians. The
majority of the works studied are by Austro-German and
Anglo-American writers, but Ziolkowski also includes significant
examples of works from Hungary, Sweden, Norway, the Ukraine,
Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, and France. The figure of Moses
becomes an animate seismograph, in Ziolkowski's words, through
whose literary reception we can trace many of the shifts in the
cultural landscape of the past two centuries.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
