Abstract
ABSTRACT The Song of Moses blames Israel for the idolatry that caused divine wrath and led to the people's near annihilation by their enemies. This article analyses the Song's structure and dynamics, its rhetoric of blaming and shaming, and its literary context within the book of Deuteronomy before re-evaluating the Song's message through the lens of psychological and sociological trauma theory. Psychological research on the relation between trauma and feelings of guilt and shame helps us to understand the divine message of blaming and shaming as an externalised transformation of self-blame. Through the lens of the sociological concept of cultural trauma, the Song can be seen as an intellectual 'working through' of past collective suffering that marks the community's identity for the future. Keywords: Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), Book of Deuteronomy, Trauma studies, Cultural trauma, Collective identity
Highlights
The Song of Moses blames Israel for the idolatry that caused divine wrath and led to the people’s near annihilation by their enemies
Many authors have argued for an early date based on linguistic observations, and Paul Sanders, in his extensive monograph, concludes that “a pre-exilic date is almost certain for the song as a whole.”[4]. Eckart Otto more recently argued for a late post-exilic date, as he considers the Song to be a mosaic of allusions to the prophets, psalms and wisdom writings.[5]
According to Jeffrey Alexander’s definition, “cultural trauma occurs when members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event that leaves indelible marks upon their group consciousness, marking their memories forever and changing their future identity in fundamental and irrevocable ways.”[18]. Since the Song of Moses makes strong claims about both the collective identity and the experience of defeat and suffering in Israel, trauma theory is a promising lens to re-evaluate its background and meaning
Summary
The Song of Moses in Deut 32:1–43 is the most extensive poem in the Pentateuch, and its position towards the end lends it structural weight. According to Jeffrey Alexander’s definition, “cultural trauma occurs when members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event that leaves indelible marks upon their group consciousness, marking their memories forever and changing their future identity in fundamental and irrevocable ways.”[18] Since the Song of Moses makes strong claims about both the collective identity and the experience of defeat and suffering in Israel, trauma theory is a promising lens to re-evaluate its background and meaning. I shall lay some interpretative groundwork by analysing the Song’s structure and pragmatics before looking at its rhetoric of blaming and shaming as well as specific aspects of its contextualisation within Deuteronomy Against this backdrop, I shall re-evaluate the Song as a literary transformation of cultural trauma
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