Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis

This article considers Edward W. Said’s proposals on ‘imaginative geographies’ as suggested in his leading work Orientalism as a tool to analyse the ideological circumstances that shape geographical spaces in the Bible. My purpose is to discuss how these imaginative geographies are present in the pa...

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Autor principal:	José-Alberto Garijo-Serrano
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	AF EN NL
Publicado:	AOSIS 2021
Materias:	orientalism in the bible imaginative geographies otherness in the bible jacob and esau arabs and ishmaelites israelites and canaanites The Bible BS1-2970 Practical Theology BV1-5099
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d2d495d1759849cca1768dbecdce3871
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d2d495d1759849cca1768dbecdce38712021-11-24T07:40:40ZConstructing imaginative geographies in Genesis0259-94222072-805010.4102/hts.v77i2.6969https://doaj.org/article/d2d495d1759849cca1768dbecdce38712021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6969https://doaj.org/toc/0259-9422https://doaj.org/toc/2072-8050This article considers Edward W. Said’s proposals on ‘imaginative geographies’ as suggested in his leading work Orientalism as a tool to analyse the ideological circumstances that shape geographical spaces in the Bible. My purpose is to discuss how these imaginative geographies are present in the patriarchal narratives of Genesis and how they have left their mark on the history of the interpretation of these texts and on the not always easy relations between members of the religious traditions inherited from the Bible (Hebrews, Muslims and Christians). I propose four types of ‘imaginative geographies’: (1) ‘Equalness’ is the way to represent what is considered as sharing the own identity. The geography of ‘Equalness’ defines the spaces of Isaac, Jacob and their families. (2) ‘Otherness’ is the way to represent the ‘Other’ as opposite or juxtaposed to one’s own identity. A common border is shared, thus kinship relationships can be established. It defines the spaces of Ishmael, Esau/Edom, Lot (Ammon and Moab) and Laban. (3) ‘Foreignness’ is the way to define what is strange, odd or exotic considered as external to the own identity, in a space set beyond even the space of the ‘Other’. Egypt is in Genesis a land of ‘Foreignness’. (4) ‘Delendness’ encompasses whatever claims our same space and therefore threatens our survival and must be destroyed (delendum). As such, processes of annihilation and dominion of Israel on Canaanites and Sichemites are justified. Contribution: The article applies Said’s ‘imaginative geographies’ as an identity mechanism for the creation of biblical literary spaces. A quadripartite classification (‘Equal’/‘Other’/‘Foreigner’/‘Delendum’) instead of the usual bipartite one (‘Equal’ vs. ‘Other’) is proposed and the consequences for the current coexistence between religious identities inherited from Abraham are shown.José-Alberto Garijo-SerranoAOSISarticleorientalism in the bibleimaginative geographiesotherness in the biblejacob and esauarabs and ishmaelitesisraelites and canaanitesThe BibleBS1-2970Practical TheologyBV1-5099AFENNLHTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies , Vol 77, Iss 2, Pp e1-e8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	AF EN NL
topic	orientalism in the bible imaginative geographies otherness in the bible jacob and esau arabs and ishmaelites israelites and canaanites The Bible BS1-2970 Practical Theology BV1-5099
spellingShingle	orientalism in the bible imaginative geographies otherness in the bible jacob and esau arabs and ishmaelites israelites and canaanites The Bible BS1-2970 Practical Theology BV1-5099 José-Alberto Garijo-Serrano Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis
description	This article considers Edward W. Said’s proposals on ‘imaginative geographies’ as suggested in his leading work Orientalism as a tool to analyse the ideological circumstances that shape geographical spaces in the Bible. My purpose is to discuss how these imaginative geographies are present in the patriarchal narratives of Genesis and how they have left their mark on the history of the interpretation of these texts and on the not always easy relations between members of the religious traditions inherited from the Bible (Hebrews, Muslims and Christians). I propose four types of ‘imaginative geographies’: (1) ‘Equalness’ is the way to represent what is considered as sharing the own identity. The geography of ‘Equalness’ defines the spaces of Isaac, Jacob and their families. (2) ‘Otherness’ is the way to represent the ‘Other’ as opposite or juxtaposed to one’s own identity. A common border is shared, thus kinship relationships can be established. It defines the spaces of Ishmael, Esau/Edom, Lot (Ammon and Moab) and Laban. (3) ‘Foreignness’ is the way to define what is strange, odd or exotic considered as external to the own identity, in a space set beyond even the space of the ‘Other’. Egypt is in Genesis a land of ‘Foreignness’. (4) ‘Delendness’ encompasses whatever claims our same space and therefore threatens our survival and must be destroyed (delendum). As such, processes of annihilation and dominion of Israel on Canaanites and Sichemites are justified. Contribution: The article applies Said’s ‘imaginative geographies’ as an identity mechanism for the creation of biblical literary spaces. A quadripartite classification (‘Equal’/‘Other’/‘Foreigner’/‘Delendum’) instead of the usual bipartite one (‘Equal’ vs. ‘Other’) is proposed and the consequences for the current coexistence between religious identities inherited from Abraham are shown.
format	article
author	José-Alberto Garijo-Serrano
author_facet	José-Alberto Garijo-Serrano
author_sort	José-Alberto Garijo-Serrano
title	Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis
title_short	Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis
title_full	Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis
title_fullStr	Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis
title_full_unstemmed	Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis
title_sort	constructing imaginative geographies in genesis
publisher	AOSIS
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d2d495d1759849cca1768dbecdce3871
work_keys_str_mv	AT josealbertogarijoserrano constructingimaginativegeographiesingenesis
_version_	1718415944331558912

Constructing imaginative geographies in Genesis

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