"You Shall Not Do As They Do in the Land of Egypt": Joseph and the Perils of Uber-Assimilation As Response To Involuntary Migration

Abstract

This paper considers the Joseph novella through the lens of trauma, exploring an apparent disconnect between Joseph's experience of involuntary migration and his meteoric rise to power once in Egypt. It begins with a focus on Genesis 39, as the place where Joseph's vulnerability, post-trafficking, is most clearly reflected. It then goes on to explore how the application of trauma theory, as a heuristic tool, suggests other places in the narrative where the impact of trauma might be recognised. A focus on patterns of compulsive repetition and inversion in the narrative leads into the beginnings of a trauma-focussed critique of the exodus and conquest traditions. The main body of the argument is book-ended with an account of recent developments in the Australian responses to asylum seekers arriving by boat/people-smuggling that point to similar patterns of repetition and inversion.