Interaction in Biblical Hebrew Narrative: A Conversation-Analytic Approach

Abstract

This approach to Biblical Hebrew conversation attends to the linguistic features and pragmatic aims of interaction within narrative texts. The present research is situated within the broader research on Hebrew speech, contributing to the field through its adaptation of Conversation Analysis for textual interpretation. It argues that reading biblical narratives responsibly requires cultural and linguistic competency regarding conventions of dialogue, which can be sharpened by developing metalinguistic awareness to notice how texts speak about speaking. Further, since conversations do more than just communicate information, interpreters should analyse conversational turns in terms of their intended pragmatic aim alongside their chosen linguistic form. Finally, the locus of meaning in conversations should not found be in individual utterances but in sequences of utterances, so interpreters ought to attend to the unfolding and collaborative aspects of interaction in narrative texts. The project will be a resource for scholars working synchronically as well as diachronically on any narrative text in the Hebrew Bible that contains dialogue.