Europe's Jewish minority culture was subjected to a barrage of public images proclaiming the dominance of the Christian majority. This book is the first to explore the Jewish response to this assault in the development of a visual culture through which Jews could affirmatively construct their identity as a people. It demonstrates how medieval Jews gave voice to messages of protest and dreams of subversion by actively appropriating and transforming the quintessential symbols of the dominant culture. Using a variety of methodologies drawn from art history, cultural studies, and the history of mentalités, this work illuminates aspects of the inner landscape of medieval Jewry as reflected in animal symbolism in text and iconography, a very rich and hitherto undiscovered realm. Marc Michael Epstein examines the ubiquitous hare-hunt and the cryptic iconography of elephants flanking the ark in the synagogue, dragons straddling the line between the divine and the demonic worlds, and unicorns that seem to have leaped directly from the christological world of the illuminated bestiary into a universe of Jewish messianic symbolism. These images, often marginal in situation, tend to be regarded as derivative of Christian art or as mere decoration, yet they are illustrative of the manner in which Jews subversively recast various symbols from their own tradition and from Christian culture. An understanding of medieval Jewish self-definition through the 'secret language' of their iconography is essential for analysis of the roots of intercultural conflict and collusion in the West.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
This is an interesting, innovative piece of research... Epstein has written a really fine, provocative book that should be of interest to all medievalists. --Choice
About the Author
Marc Michael Epstein is Assistant Professor of Religion and Director of Jewish Studies at Vassar College.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Marc Michael Epstein has been teaching at Vassar since 1992, and was the first Director of Jewish Studies. He is a graduate of Oberlin College, received the PhD at Yale University, and did much of his graduate research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has written on various topics in visual and material culture produced by, for, and about Jews. His newest book, under contract with Yale University Press and slated for publication in 2010, is titled "The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination". Epstein was chosen as general editor of "Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts," the first comprehensive survey of Jewish illumination in over thirty years, and the first ever to incorporate digital imagery. During the 80s, Epstein was Director of the Hebrew Books and Manuscripts division of Sotheby's Judaica department, and continues to serve as consultant to various libraries, auction houses, museums and private collectors throughout the world, among them the Herbert C. and Eileen Bernard Museum at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, for which he curated the inaugural exhibition.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful source for the study of basic Jewish iconography,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature (Hardcover)
I originally picked this book up at the College library, and I was so impressed with Epstein's work on this little volume that I immediately purchased it. As a student of Art History, I spend a lot of time combing through online as well as library archived journals for well-researched data on obscure symbolism. This book provided an excellent jumping-off point for branching out into alternate interpretation of medieval Jewish manuscripts.
The theme of the book is subversion, and Epstein demonstrates that for many of the common Christian symbols (such as the lion, the unicorn, and the medieval hunt)there were subtly opposing occurences in Jewish art. Epstein also ventures into less commonly known symbols, such as the elephant and the hare. Each chapter is devoted to a different symbol, its Christian meanings, and then an in-depth explaination of its Jewish re-interpretation. The cases are painstakingly researched and Epstein's bibliography is in and of itself a valuable research source. Although each chapter of this book could potentially be its own entire thesis, as a whole it makes a wonderful short introduction to the study of medieval Jewish iconography.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Subtle And Provocative Look At Jewish Medieval Manuscripts,
By
This review is from: Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature (Hardcover)
The prophets of ancient Israel carried divinely inspired messages to guide their people and put fear in the hearts of their enemies, providing rich symbolism for the rabbis and scholars that succeeded them to interpret and weave into the core of our religious laws and literary traditions. They passionately labored to build and maintain a distinctive, timeless identity for the Jewish people amidst the cultures that hosted, but mostly tolerated them. Given their historical status as an eternal minority, Jews were relentlessly surrounded by the social and political effects of omnipresent Christian polemics and iconography that provoked artistic expressions of subtle visual dissidence.
With 'Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Art and Literature', Marc Michael Epstein understands this in depth from multiple religious and ethnographic perspectives. Examining the animal and decorative symbolism that accompanies the texts in medieval manuscripts, Dr. Epstein encourages us to see between the lines of both words and images of this powerful, telling artistic genre. His clear analyses, well-chosen illustrations and thoughtful writing opens a window for us into the mindful, yet slyly irreverent soul of the Medieval Jew, who after all, may not be so different from ourselves. Though I've long been interested in the art and craft of medieval illuminated manuscripts, the insights provided and questions asked here made this book an absorbing read and an important reference worthy of its prominent place in my personal library.Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
