What do you think?
Rate this book
The Singers of Lamentations: Cities under Siege, from Ur to Jerusalem to Sarajevo
The author analyzes the poetic songs of biblical Lamentations with oral-poetic folkloric method for the first time with surprising results. Contemporary lament poems are then compared from recent post-war Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina about suffering in cities under siege.
Oral-poetic and socio-rhetorical methods illumine two lead singers in dialogue in a mourning context, employing formulas and themes of dirge, psalmic and prophetic traditions in their compositions, but infusing these with their individual artistry to respond to Jerusalem's destruction.
Poets through history and across cultures share common ground in how they render the suffering of their war-torn cities. The prophet Jeremiah emerges in Lamentations as one lead singer by virtue of how he modifies traditional formulas (imagery, themes, terms) in response to the context. A woman emerges as another lead singer who pushes the limits of current theology in crisis.
Oral-poetic and socio-rhetorical methods illumine two lead singers in dialogue in a mourning context, employing formulas and themes of dirge, psalmic and prophetic traditions in their compositions, but infusing these with their individual artistry to respond to Jerusalem's destruction.
Poets through history and across cultures share common ground in how they render the suffering of their war-torn cities. The prophet Jeremiah emerges in Lamentations as one lead singer by virtue of how he modifies traditional formulas (imagery, themes, terms) in response to the context. A woman emerges as another lead singer who pushes the limits of current theology in crisis.
234 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2002
3 people want to read
About the author
Nancy C. Lee
5 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Nancy C. Lee, Ph.D. (1961- ) teaches at Elmhurst College near Chicago where she is Professor of Hebrew Bible/Religious Studies and Distinguished Niebuhr Chair. Her latest book is Hannevi'ah and Hannah: Hearing Women Biblical Prophets in a Women's Lyrical Tradition (Wipf & Stock, 2015), a study revealing a distinctive signature in the Hebrew of women's represented compositions in the Bible. A Kindle book, Hebrew Sound Patterns and Women's Biblical Composing (2014, rev. 2015), presents color-coded charts showing oral sound patterns in non-prophetic biblical texts. Lee is currently writing a commentary on the Song of Songs and Lamentations (forthcoming, Smyth & Helwys) and is the author of articles, poetry, and books, including The Singers of Lamentations: Cities under Siege, from Ur to Jerusalem to Sarajevo . . . (Brill, 2002). This was a comparative study of the biblical book of Lamentations to lament poems from a recent context--the focus of a Fulbright fellowship in Croatia (and Bosnia-Herzegovinia) the year after the wars there ended in the 1990s. She edited a volume of war poetry in English by Borislav Arapović, Between Despair and Lamentation (2002). Founding co-chair of the Lament in Sacred Texts & Cultures group of the Society of Biblical Literature, she co-edited the volume, Lamentations in Ancient & Contemporary Contexts (SBL, 2008), a collection from scholars worldwide. Her book, Lyrics of Lament: From Tragedy to Transformation (Fortress, 2010), is for a more general audience and surveys lament in poetry and popular song in 30 cultures worldwide while examining forms of lament in the sacred texts of the Abrahamic religions (Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Qur'an). Lee has regularly co-led student groups to South Africa with partners there in service-learning projects for 15 years. She was Founding Director of the Niebuhr Center at Elmhurst College (where the Niebuhrs were undergrads) and its 'Callings for the Common Good' program.
Nancy C. Lee, Ph.D. (1961- ) teaches at Elmhurst College near Chicago where she is Professor of Hebrew Bible/Religious Studies and Distinguished Niebuhr Chair. Her latest book is Hannevi'ah and Hannah: Hearing Women Biblical Prophets in a Women's Lyrical Tradition (Wipf & Stock, 2015), a study revealing a distinctive signature in the Hebrew of women's represented compositions in the Bible. A Kindle book, Hebrew Sound Patterns and Women's Biblical Composing (2014, rev. 2015), presents color-coded charts showing oral sound patterns in non-prophetic biblical texts. Lee is currently writing a commentary on the Song of Songs and Lamentations (forthcoming, Smyth & Helwys) and is the author of articles, poetry, and books, including The Singers of Lamentations: Cities under Siege, from Ur to Jerusalem to Sarajevo . . . (Brill, 2002). This was a comparative study of the biblical book of Lamentations to lament poems from a recent context--the focus of a Fulbright fellowship in Croatia (and Bosnia-Herzegovinia) the year after the wars there ended in the 1990s. She edited a volume of war poetry in English by Borislav Arapović, Between Despair and Lamentation (2002). Founding co-chair of the Lament in Sacred Texts & Cultures group of the Society of Biblical Literature, she co-edited the volume, Lamentations in Ancient & Contemporary Contexts (SBL, 2008), a collection from scholars worldwide. Her book, Lyrics of Lament: From Tragedy to Transformation (Fortress, 2010), is for a more general audience and surveys lament in poetry and popular song in 30 cultures worldwide while examining forms of lament in the sacred texts of the Abrahamic religions (Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Qur'an). Lee has regularly co-led student groups to South Africa with partners there in service-learning projects for 15 years. She was Founding Director of the Niebuhr Center at Elmhurst College (where the Niebuhrs were undergrads) and its 'Callings for the Common Good' program.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.