Allegorical Readers and Cultural Revision in Ancient Alexandria

"This approach to allegory, which discriminates among past disputes and present positions, will confirm . . . that the varying sociocultural functions of allegory . . . needed the fuller exposition Dawson has given them."—Frank Kermode

"During the last few years scholars have, really for the first time, begun to take allegorical interpretation seriously as a subject of study. Dawson's book is the best so far. He is careful to situate allegory historically as a cultural practice. Allegory is not a technique of willful misreading or subjective play. It is the way ancient Alexandria, made up as it was of multiple conflicting traditions and incompatible forms of life, made sense of itself. Dawson's close study of how ancient writers actually worked—how they studied and thought—is a model of historical and critical research. Classicists, literary and cultural critics, biblical scholars and theologians of every tradition will have much to learn from this superb and beautifully written book."—Gerald L. Bruns, University of Notre Dame

About the author

David Dawson is Assistant Professor of Religion at Haverford College.

Summary

Describes how some ancient pagan, Jewish, and Christian interpreters used allegory to endorse, revise, and subvert competing Christian and pagan world views. This book presents three Hellenistic religious writers who each typify distinctive models of allegorical interpretation: Philo, Valentinus, and Clement.

Product details

• Authors: David Dawson, Dawson David
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 02.12.1991
• EAN: 9780520071025
• ISBN: 978-0-520-07102-5
• No. of pages: 356
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / Epistemology, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, RELIGION / Christianity / History, RELIGION / Christianity / General, Christianity, History of Religion, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge, The Early Church