1991 BAS Publication Awards

Best Books Relating to the Old Testament

Lethal Love: Feminist Literary Readings of Biblical Love Stories

(Indiana University Press, 1987)

Murder and Difference: Genre, Gender, and Scholarship on Sisera’s Death

(Indiana University Press, 1988)

Death and Disymmetry: The Politics of Coherence in the Book of Judges

(University of Chicago Press, 1988)

Mieke Bal, University of Amsterdam

This trilogy has stimulated vigorous discussion among Biblical scholars and demonstrates creative use of diverse currents in contemporary Biblical interpretation. Bal transcends the confines of the Biblical discipline to speak to a broader academic community, asking literary scholars to consider ancient texts such as the Bible in their studies of narrative, while asking Biblical scholars to incorporate modern literary theory in their textual exegeses. Her work reflects on the history of gender relations that were involved in the creation of the Bible and in its interpretation throughout the ages.

Judges: Susan Ackerman, Dartmouth College; Michael Fishbane, University of Chicago; Burke Long, Bowdoin College