Interpretation and Allegory: Antiquity to the Modern Period (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History)

535 Pages·1999·27.28 MB·English

by  Jon Whitman

INTERPRETATION AND ALLEGORY
BRILL'S STUDIES
IN
INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
General Editor
AJ. VANDERJAGT, University of Groningen
Editorial Board
M. COLISH, Oberlin College
J.I. ISRAEL, University College, London
J.D. NORTH, University of Groningen
H.A. OBERMAN, University of Arizona, Tucson
R.H. POPKIN, Washington University, St. Louis-UCLA
VOLUME 101
INTERPRETATION AND ALLEGORY
ANTIQUITY TO THE MODERN PERIOD
EDITED
WITH INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS BY
JON WHITMAN
BRILL
LEIDEN • BOSTON • KOLN
2000
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Interpretation and allegory : antiquity to the modern period / edited by
Jon Whitman.
p. cm. — (Brill's studies in intellectual history, ISSN
0920-8607 ; v. 101)
Includes index.
ISBN 9004110399
I. Hermeneutics—History. 2. Allegory. I. Whitman, Jon, 1949-
II. Series.
BD241 .1554 2000
121'.686—dc21
00-045415
GIF
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufhahme
Interpretation and allegory : antiquity to the modern period / ed. by
Jon Whitman. - Leiden ; Boston ; Koln : Brill, 2000
(Brill's studies in intellectual history ; Vol. 101)
ISBN 90-04-11039-9
ISSN 0920-8607
ISBN 9004110399
© Copyright 2000 by Koninklijke Brill JW, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
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Fees are subject to change.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
To my wife, Ahuva,
and
to my daughter, Naomi Eliora
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Preface xi
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1. A Retrospective Forward: Interpretation, Allegory,
and Historical Change 3
Jon Whitman
PART ONE
ANTIQUITY TO THE LATE MIDDLE AGES
2. Present Perspectives: Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages
[Prologue to chapters 3-11] 33
Jon Whitman
A Antique interpretation of formative texts: 'units'
of analysis 34
i Ancient Homeric interpretation [chapter 3] 35
ii Alexandrian allegorization of Jewish Scripture
[chapter 4] 37
iii Rabbinic interpretation in its midrashic forms
[chapter 5] 40
iv Early Christian typology [chapter 6] 41
B Medieval philosophic designs: 'textures'
of interpretation 45
v Philosophic modes in medieval Islam
[chapter 7] 46
vi Jewish approaches to philosophic allegory
[chapters 8-9] 49
vii Christian allegorization of ancient philosophic
writing [chapter 10] 52
viii Philosophic attitudes toward signification
in Christian Scripture [chapter 11] 54
Vlll CONTENTS
A. Antique Interpretation of Formative Texts
3. Language, Text, and Truth in Ancient Polytheist
Exegesis 73
Robert Lamberton
4. Plato's Soul and the Body of the Text in Philo
and Origen 89
David Dawson
5. Theology and Exegesis in Midrashic Literature 109
Marc Hirshman
6. Allegory and Reading God's Book: Paul and Augustine
on the Destiny of Israel 125
Paula Fredriksen
B. Medieval Philosophic Designs
7. The Utilization of Allegory in Islamic Philosophy 153
Alfred L. Ivry
8. On Maimonides' Allegorical Readings of Scripture ......... 181
Warren %ev Harvey
9. Philosophic Allegory in Medieval Jewish Culture:
The Crisis in Languedoc (1304-6) 189
Gregg Stern
10. Philosophy, Commentary, and Mythic Narrative
in Twelfth-Century France 211
Winthrop Wetherbee
11. Quadruplex Sensus, Multiplex Modus: Scriptural Sense
and Mode in Medieval Scholastic Exegesis 231
A.J. Minnis
CONTENTS IX
PART TWO
THE LATE MIDDLE AGES TO THE MODERN PERIOD
12. Present Perspectives: The Late Middle Ages to the
Modern Period [Prologue to chapters 13~20] 259
Jon Whitman
G Late medieval and Renaissance sign systems:
'grammars' of transformation 261
i Kabbalistic codes [chapter 13] 264
ii Mythographic programs [chapter 14] 269
iii Hieroglyphic formulations [chapter 15] 273
iv Emblematic transactions [chapter 16] 276
D Eighteenth- to twentieth-century theories of allegory:
'temporalities' of discourse 280
v Eighteenth-century conceptions of mythology
[chapter 17] 283
vi Romantic approaches to 'allegory,'
'symbol,' and mythology [chapter 18] 289
vii Early twentieth-century reassessments
of 'allegory' [chapter 19] 295
viii Poststructuralist critiques of figuration
[chapter 20] 299
C. Late Medieval and Renaissance Sign Systems
13. Allegory and Divine Names in Ecstatic Kabbalah 317
Moshe Idel
14. Boccaccio: The Mythographer of the City 349
Giuseppe F. Mazzotta
15. Renaissance Hieroglyphic Studies: An Overview 365
Charles Dempsey
16. Sixteenth-Century Emblems and Imprese as Indicators
of Cultural Change 383
Peter M. Daly