As distinct from the extant studies of ancient canonical texts, which focus either on literary (Greco-Roman) or religious (Judeo-Christian) canons, the present volume aims at bridging between these two fields by proposing the first comparative study of canon.
An international team of experts discusses the processes of canon-formation in societies of the ancient world, addressing such issues as canon and the articulation of identity; the hermeneutical attitude toward canonical texts; textual fixity and openness; oral and written canons; methods of transmission, and more. Among the topics discussed are Mesopotamian canons; Zoroastrianism; the Bible; Homer; literary and philosophical canons in ancient Greece and Rome; the New Testament; the Roman law; Rabbinic Judaism and Kabbalistic literature.
The future of the so-called Western Canon is one of the most hotly debated issues of the day. There is reason to believe that what is perceived today as a unique crisis, can be put into perspective by students of ancient societies, for the simple reason that the ancient world offers us the historical perspective of civilizations as a whole and allows us to study cultural phenomena in the longue durée.
Margalit Finkelberg is the author of The Birth of Literary Fiction in Ancient Greece (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1998) and of numerous articles on Greek language and literature, especially Homer. She has recently completed a book titled The Descendants of Hellen. Perspectives on Greek Prehistory.
Guy G. Stroumsa has published Barbarian Philosophy: the religious revolution of early Christianty (Mohr Siebeck, 1999). He recently edited, jointly with David Shulman, Self and Self-transformation in the history of religions (OUP, 2002). He is currently at work on a monograph on the mutation of religion in late antiquity.
'This is a very stimulating book and should be read by all scholars interested in canon and the processes of canonization.'
Thomas Römer, Review of Biblical Literature, 2006
'So ist ein überaus reichhaltiger, wichtiger Band mit Arbeiten entstanden, die - durchgehend auf hohem Niveau - einerseits zeigen, wie komplex Phänomene von Kanonisierung und im Zusammenhang mit Kanonisierung zu beschreiben sind, und
andererseits deutlich machen, wie wenig Einigkeit selbst auf der Ebene der Grundlagen (z.B. dem Begriff des "Kanons") erreicht ist.'
Tobias Nicklas, Review of Biblical Literature, 2006