New Interpretations and Devices in the Song of Songs

The lecture will introduce several poetic devices that have not been included in the analysis of biblical literature, among them the "pivot pun" and "agent defocusing." It will also identify several known devices to be at work in the Song of Songs at points that have not been recognized so far. It will offer new interpretations of several passages, including (and especially) 1:5–6, which has long been seen as racializing and classist and can now be seen to be expressing a completely different sentiment.