• 'Reflections on Literacy, Textuality, and Community in the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls,' in Ariel Feldman, Maria Cioata, and Charlotte Hempel, eds, Is There a Text in this Cave? Studies in the Textuality of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Honour of George J. Brooke (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 69-82

    Author(s):
    Charlotte Hempel (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Subject(s):
    Dead Sea scrolls, Judaism--Post-exilic period (Judaism)
    Item Type:
    Book chapter
    Tag(s):
    Qumran, Second Temple Judaism
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/gzv4-0f13
    Abstract:
    Drawing on the work of Brian Stock, Pierre Bourdieu, and others, this paper argues for the cultural and symbolic significance of the textual legacy of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Building on Stock’s insights on the nuanced make-up of textual communities, Hempel challenges the widespread view of the Qumran movement as made up of a socially monolithic scribal elite. She advocates instead that we allow for the hitherto largely ignored presence of a stratum of illiterate and semi-literate members alongside a highly educated elite. The tremendous social pay-off of being associated with a substantial body of learned texts would have had an enormous impact on both rather distinct social groups as well as reinforced a shared sense of identity.
    Notes:
    Author's manuscript
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Book chapter     Show details
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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