Robert Alter's Narrative Analysis

Gunn’s work illustrated the use of literary criticism (new criticism), and it seemed to be the answer to historical criticisms fragmentation of the text. Literary critics analyzed the text according to such elements as structure, plot, character, and so forth. Robert Alter published his seminal work entitled, The Art of Biblical Narrative (1981), a project begun in 1971, after being asked to lecture on the literary study of the Bible at Stanford University. Alter’s response to higher criticism is implicitly stated as he acknowledged the simplicity of biblical narratives. For Alter, literary analysis revealed the meaning and intent of the biblical author. Most scholars recognize Alter’s contribution to the discussion regarding biblical narrative and literary analysis.

In 1985, Lyle M. Eslinger published Kingship of God in Crisis (1985). In the first part of the book, Eslinger offered a critique of the history of criticism regarding 1 Samuel 1–12. According to him, the historical critical method losses sight of the whole meaning of the text. Similar to Gunn, Eslinger dealt with his delineated text only. Eslinger approached the …show more content…
Edelman attempted to approach 1–2 Samuel as a “historian.” Such an approach provided her with insight necessary to understand how the original audience would have understood the text. She proposed that an understanding of how, when, and why the narrative of Saul was constructed would reveal pre-existing sources. Edelman read the text as a complete literary unit. She did not raise any historical judgments or concerns; however, she noted the need for such consideration but rejected its value in being addressed in her reading (or literary analysis). Accordingly, “discussions concerning philology, textual reconstruction, and ancient social customs or structure” occurred as needed. In essence, Edelman tried to discern the purpose of the material added to the pre-existing