Holy Writ as Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore / A Prelude to Biblical Folklore: Underdogs and Tricksters

Western Folklore, Summer 2000 by Schniedewind, William M

As a biblical scholar, I found these two perspectives rather interesting. Dundes writes in his acknowledgements that his wife questioned him whether it wasn't pretty much known by all readers that the Bible is folklore. He answers with an exclamatory "No." At the same, Niditch can write her book assuming that the biblical narratives do have their origins in oral tradition and that this has explanatory power. Indeed, Dundes is correct that not all readers of the Bible recognize its folkloric origins, but most biblical scholars do. His critique at the end of his book is apparently directed at pious lay readers of the Bible who certainly do not recognize the oral heritage of biblical literature. And, even traditional biblical scholarship is sometimes tied to documentary models. Dundes's argument should help further the case for the oral origins of biblical literature and especially help convince the pious lay audience that before the Bible was Holy Writ, it was Oral Lit. Perhaps this will help alleviate some of the problems that modern readers see with variations in the Bible. Readers who want to see some of the explanatory power of folkloric analysis will enjoy reading Niditch's work which gives rich insight into the biblical authors, audiences, and society.

WILLIAM M. SCHNIEDEWIND

University of California, Los Angeles