Total Devotion in Deuteronomy: Emotions, Narrativity, and Ideals of Devotion

This paper explores the role of emotions in narrative communication about “total devotion” in Deuteronomy/Devarim. Understanding narratives as among the most suitable tools for processing emotions, and stories as stimulating emotions in their audiences through characters, narrators, and events, I present an approach focusing on verbalised/narrated emotions and emotional story/plot effects and narrated ideals of devotion as total. I look at the role of emotions in narrative communication about the exemplary devout and exemplary religious identity in Devarim/Deuteronomy, especially chapters 4, 6, and 7. This paper analyses both verbalized text emotives, and emotional story/plot effects in the narrative and rhetoric of Deuteronomy. Focusing on love and disgust, it argues that emotionality plays key roles in Deuteronomy 1-11, contrary to a long-standing, though not uncontested, scholarly consensus (building on specific understandings of Neo-Assyrian vassal treaties), and that emotionality is intimately tied to narrativity and specific devotion ideals, aimed at strengthening the resilience of the group. The analysis of text emotives and story effects forms the basis for a discussion of interiority, self formation, and the role of emotions, in discussion with and of total devotion ideals, key analyses of Deuteronomy from research history and comparative materials from the ancient Near Eastern context.