Construction and Destruction: The City of the Enemy as Portrayed in the Hebrew Bible.

Previous studies, especially critical-spatial analyses, have drawn attention to the construction of space in the Hebrew Bible. They have shown that space is more than its material and static appearance, but as much a functional construct. The current project aims to gain insight into a particular aspect of a particular type of ancient space: the stylistic construction of the city of theenemy in the Hebrew Bible. Biblical passages discussing Babel and Nineveh, selected as prototypical enemies, will form the focus of a cognitive-stylistic analysis. The project has three specific goals: i) to analyze how language contributes to the concept ofspace, here the urban space of the enemy; ii) to determine whether there are systematically recurring lexical and/or stylistic patterns within this concept; iii) to analyze the relationship between the space of the enemy and the friendly space of Jerusalem.The contribution of the project is threefold: i) it offers insight into the ancient concept of the city of the enemy in the Hebrew Bible; ii) it enhances the understanding of the linguistic construction of this space and fills a methodological gap; iii) it offers a new way of researching the Hebrew Bible, relying on the style of its textual material.

Keywords:HEBREW, BIBLE, JEWISH STUDIES

Disciplines:Language studies, Literary studies, Theory and methodology of language studies, Theory and methodology of linguistics, Theory and methodology of literary studies, Other languages and literary studies