User talk:Gråbergs Gråa Sång/sandbox/GGS Workspace

Source

Alephb, would you say this article is a usable source, possibly for some "examples"? It´s old (and boring), but that needn't matter on this topic. However, respected scholarly journal or creationist trash? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:47, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

Pinging also Jenhawk777, found an entire book:Wit and Humor of the Bible A Literary Study (1892 ) Marion D. Shutter. Review at [1] [2] Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:16, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

That's hard. It is really, really old, so I doubt if it could be a centerpiece of an article, but on the other hand it's from the University of Chicago, so definitely not (in its time) a fringe publication. It's from 1919, which if I recall correctly is roughly the time that American Protestant scholarship was starting to very publicly, very noisily split into right-wing and left-wing camps. My guess is that it's going to depend on the exact scope of the article. If there is space in the article for the reception history of biblical humor, maybe it could be useful there? The article could discuss the extent and debates (if any) over the allegedly humorous passages in the Bible as seen by modern scholarship, and it could also have some part that kind of works across time, and shows references to biblical humor in the scholarly and religious worlds over time.

As an aside (and I hope this isn't too far off topic), I wonder if there might be able to squeeze in some space about humor in biblical interpretation. There's a whole lovely field of Jewish exegesis commonly known as midrash, and I think it would be fair to say that it often finds humorous things in passages that, taken in a more straightforward way, are fairly dry. But I wish I knew the literature on this better. Mostly I have spots in the Bible where I've read and I think, This is funny stuff. Like the episode with Balaam's donkey, for example. But I don't know a ton about the scholarly views on biblical humor. Alephb (talk) 12:28, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

It wouldn´t be a centerpiece, but I hear "use with caution". I´ve been reading some from On Humour and the Comic in the Hebrew Bible though (gbooks crippled as it is) that I just want to copypaste.

The scope as I see it is intentional humor in the bible itself, as discussed in sources. I´m not violently opposed to Midrash stuff/section, but would it fit as well in Jewish humor? But it could fit, if sources see something in it as commentary on humor in the bible. I also think there should be a Religious humor, but that´s another issue.

"A prophet is not without honor save in his own country and among his friends." Pretty good one! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:46, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

I have used some really old--1890's--material if I find it reprinted as a "classic". That says to me it has stood up to lots of analysis and its contribution was important and is still recognized. Who am I to argue with scholars deciding some work is classic? The ones I picked were always used as one among many references--and while I recognize the importance of current scholarship--that things change--the existence of classics shows some things don't change. So I say feel free to use it--so long as it is backed up with current scholarship as well. Don't want to put something out there that everyone has now concluded is full of beans! Jenhawk777 (talk) 18:07, 18 January 2018 (UTC)