Programme
The goal of this research programme is to explore the social processes, ideological matrices, and matters of identity formation involved in the production and use of authoritative texts in the Persian and Early Hellenistic periods.
Papers (and thematic sessions) may deal with:
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How the various books in the Hebrew Bible have been shaped in order to serve as guidelines and authoritative illustrations for behaviour for the emerging Jewish communities in Yehud or in the diaspora in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods;
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How some books were intended to socialize their readers by constructing shared images of the past;
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How authoritative books shaped and reflected a system of shared sites of memory that contributed to self-understanding and social cohesion;
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How and why books became authoritative and what 'authoritative' may mean in this regard;
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Anything related to the production and reception of authoritative books in the Persian and Early Hellenistic period, from socio-political considerations to studies of the discursive environment within which the books emerged or read and reread.
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Thematic sessions may deal with individual books, collections of books; or may focus on some aspect of the production and reception of the relevant books.
Papers will be invited, but EABS members are also welcome to submit proposals.