Conclusion

Abstract

Abstract The conclusion synthesizes the account of how to read stories of rape and sexual violence “after terror”—that is, with and through the methodological framework offered by this book. Several repeated themes emerge. First, there is no single story or script for “rape stories.” This includes many of the explanatory or affective frames applied to rape stories, including “rape is the worst thing possible,” “rape is exceptional,” and “there is no after to rape.” Second, just as there is no one way to tell a rape story, there is no one way of framing harm, in either type or degree. One alternative model is peremption, the unlimited limiting of possibility. Third, the after of rape stories names both the immediate aftermath—what happens next in the narrative, for example—and the larger space in and around the story, including readers’ responses. Fourth, the work of feminist criticism is about finding ways to read and live with biblical rape stories. To do feminist work is to stay with the fuzzy, the messy, and the icky, even or especially when such reading seem difficult.