The Song of Songs is the only book of the Bible to privilege the voice of a woman, and its poetry of love and eroticism also bears witness to violence. How do the contemporary #MeToo movement and other movements of protest and accountability renew questions about women, gender, sex, and the problematic of the public at the heart of this ancient poetry? This edited volume seeks to reinvigorate feminist scholarship on the Song by exploring diverse contexts of reading, from Akkadian love lyrics, to Hildegard of Bingen, to Marc Chagall.

The Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is an unusual book to find in the Bible. As the Bible's only love poem, the Song offers a unique picture of relations between the sexes in biblical times. Unlike other biblical books, it consists entirely of dialogue. It looks at love from both a woman's and a man's point of view, and shows the reader what love is like exclusively through what lovers say about it. There are few issues in Song of Songs interpretation that are not open to debate, which makes it a fascinating book to study. In this Guide, Cheryl Exum provides a concise survey of the principal questions encountered in Song of Songs scholarship. She also takes the discussion beyond the traditional research questions to introduce readers to new and ongoing areas in Song of Songs research. Bibliographies and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter provide additional resources for readers interested in pursuing specific topics and exploring new directions in the study of the Song of Songs.

This volume honors Dennis G. Pardee, Henry Crown Professor of Hebrew Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago and one of the preeminent experts in Northwest Semitic languages and literatures, particularly Ugaritic studies. The thirty-seven essays by colleagues and former students reflect the wide range of Professor Pardee's research interests and include, among other topics, new readings of inscriptions, studies of poetic structure, and investigations of Late Bronze Age society.

Challenging Contextuality: Bibles and Biblical Scholarship in Context provides a new and innovative contribution to the study of biblical texts by bringing together current approaches to biblical interpretation. The volume sets the agenda for the future of the field and provides a synthesis of approaches to date. In doing so, it aligns itself with the broadly shared hermeneutical conviction that contextuality is a catalyst for interpretation. This applies in equal measure to approaches and methods that are often framed as 'traditional' or 'mainstream' (e.g. the methodological canon of the historical critical approach as the offspring of the European Enlightenment) and those that are often dubbed 'contextual' (e.g. forms of feminist or 'indigenous' interpretation). The volume grounds contextual biblical interpretation within the broader landscape of biblical studies, and the chapters are all interested in the contexts in which bibles are read. Rather than a series of examples of contextual biblical interpretation, this book is concerned with what it means to do contextual biblical interpretation, how contextual biblical interpretation challenges biblical scholarship, and what chances there are for this mode of inquiry. What contexts are engaged and elucidated when it comes to bible-use? What contexts are made visible and invisible? How can different contexts be theorized and understood? The volume argues that it is not context that matters, rather, contemporary contexts should be a challenge and a chance for biblical scholarship, its present and its future.

This edited volume explores the Song of Songs, the ancient biblical poem that privileges a woman's voice and erotic experience, in light of questions raised by #MeToo, especially how contemporary perspectives on women, gender, and the problematic of the public can reinvigorate feminist scholarship on the Song.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rock Music Research is the first comprehensive academic survey of the field of rock music as it stands today. More than 50 years into its life and we still ask - what is rock music, why is it studied, and how does it work, both as music and as cultural activity? This volume draws together 37 of the leading academics working on rock to provide answers to these questions and many more. The text is divided into four major sections: practice of rock (analysis, performance, and recording); theories; business of rock; and social and culture issues. Each chapter combines two approaches, providing a summary of current knowledge of the area concerned as well as the consequences of that research and suggesting profitable subsequent directions to take. This text investigates and presents the field at a level of depth worthy of something which has had such a pervasive influence on the lives of millions.