Overview

Centering on the first extant martyr story (2 Maccabees 7), this study explores the ""autonomous value"" of martyrdom. The story of a mother and her seven sons who die under the torture of the Greek king Antiochus displaces the long-problematic Temple sacrificial cult with new cultic practices, and presents a new family romance that encodes unconscious fantasies of child-bearing fathers and eternal mergers with mothers. This study places the martyr story in the historical context of the Hasmonean struggle for legitimacy in the face of Jewish civil wars, and uses psychoanalytic theories to analyze the unconscious meaning of the martyr-family story.

Full Product Details

Author:   Naomi Janowitz
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 13.80cm , Height: 0.80cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.200kg
ISBN:  

9780367182694

ISBN 10:   0367182696
Pages:   110
Publication Date:   10 June 2019
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction The Terminology of Martyrdom The Ancient Theologies of Martyrdom 1: The Psychoanalytic Study of Martyrdom The Psychoanalytic Analysis of Political Power The Specific Family Romance of Second Maccabees 2: The Family Romance as Victory Story Second Maccabees as Triumphalist History Persecution as a Triumphalist Strategy 3: Theologies of Martyrdom Recast Authority and Cult The Problem of Too Many Kings Temple Cult in Second Maccabees: Hierarchies of Sacredness and Power 4: Rereading Sacrifice: Human Blood as a Sign How Did Blood Become a Sign? 5: The Martyr’s New Sacrifice: Solving the Maccabean Sacrifice Crisis Killing within the Family: Reworking Priestly Taboos 6: The Happy Ending of Two Wishes Fulfilled Wish #1: Male Mothers and Child-bearing Fathers Wish #2: The Family Reunites Conclusions Appendix 1: 2 Maccabees 7 Appendix 2: A Speculative Note on Displacing Women in Religious Myths and Rites Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Naomi Janowitz is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California-Davis, USA.

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