Geschwisterrivalitäten im Buch Genesis : Eine literaturwissenschaftliche Analyse ausgewählter Geschwisterrivalitäten

Abstract

Genesis ist ein Buch von Familiengeschichten, welche durchgehend von Konflikten geprägt sind. Insbesondere gilt dies für Rivalitäten zwischen Brüdern. Häufige Vertauschungsepisoden und weitere Katalysatoren entfachen Konflikte, die die familiäre Kontinuität stets gefährden. Die Geschwisterriva-litäten wurden in der Forschung ausgiebig behandelt, doch die Analyse verbindender und wiederkeh-render literarischer Motive zwischen den Erzählungen wurde bisher nicht ausreichend erforscht. Daher untersucht die vorliegende Studie drei Hauptrivalitäten zwischen Brüdern in ihren literarischen Verbindungen: Kain und Abel, Jakob und Esau sowie Josef und seine Brüdern. Dabei werden beson-ders die Abschnitte analysiert, die den Ausgangspunkt, die Eskalation und die Auflösung dieser Kon-flikte behandeln. Als Ergebnis der Studie werden lexikalische und thematische Motive, sowie Motive im Handlungsverlauf zwischen den Erzählungen erarbeitet. Die beschriebenen Motive stellen ein dicht verwobenes literarisches Netzwerk zwischen den Erzählungen dar. Sie zeigen einen narrativen Span-nungsbogen auf, der vom urgeschichtlichen Brudermord zur Bruder-Vergebung geht und sich im Verlauf stets am Rande eines Brudermords bewegt Genesis is a book of family histories which are marked throughout by conflict. This applies in particular to rivalry between brothers. Frequent episodes of reversals and other catalysts ignite conflicts which continually endanger family continuity. Although sibling rivalry has been extensively addressed by the academic research, the analysis of interconnected and recurrent literary motifs among the stories has not yet been sufficiently explored. Therefore, the present study investigates the literary connections among three principal rivalries: Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers. This includes, in particular, the analysis of those texts which deal with the origin, escalation and resolution of these conflicts. As a result of this study, lexical and thematic motifs, as well as motifs of plot development among the stories are worked out. These motifs present a tightly interwoven narrative network among the stories. They reveal a narrative arc of suspense which ranges from the primeval fratricide to fraternal forgiveness, teetering continually on the brink of fratricide

Genesis is a book of family histories which are marked throughout by conflict. This applies in particular to rivalry between brothers. Frequent episodes of reversals and other catalysts ignite conflicts which continually endanger family continuity. Although sibling rivalry has been extensively addressed by the academic research, the analysis of interconnected and recurrent literary motifs among the stories has not yet been sufficiently explored. Therefore, the present study investigates the literary connections among three principal rivalries: Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers. This includes, in particular, the analysis of those texts which deal with the origin, escalation and resolution of these conflicts. As a result of this study, lexical and thematic motifs, as well as motifs of plot development among the stories are worked out. These motifs present a tightly interwoven narrative network among the stories. They reveal a narrative arc of suspense which ranges from the primeval fratricide to fraternal forgiveness, teetering continually on the brink of fratricide