Abstract

LYONS, Michael A.. Local Incoherence, Global Coherence? Allusion and the Readability of Ancient Israelite Literature. Old testam. essays [online]. 2021, vol.34, n.1, pp.141-164. ISSN 2312-3621.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2021/v34n1a9.

Does a lack of coherence always render a text "unreadable" or "unintelligible"? In this essay, I explore the relationships between three of De Beaugrande and Dressler's standards of textuality: cohesion, coherence, and intertextuality (considered more narrowly here in the form of allusion). I consider examples of textual allusion that readers have considered surprising, incongruous, or incoherent. I conclude that in some cases, there is reason to believe ancient Israelite writers employed allusion in such a way as to create incongruity and incoherence at local text-segment levels while creating a coherent argument at larger text-segment levels. In these cases, at least, the text is still "readable."

Keywords : Allusion; Cohesion; Coherence.

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