The purpose of this blog is to exchange information among scholars in the many fields of Jewish studies who share an interest in the study of "Jewish books." It will be difficult to find consensus about what either of those terms mean and we intend to intepret them broadly. We are generally interested in how Jews, past and present, produced, used, and transmitted texts of various sorts and in various media.
This blog grows out of an ad hoc group that met at the Association for Jewish Studies meeting in Toronto, Canada in December 2007 to discuss prospects for institutional frameworks and other activities to promote the study of the history of the book within Jewish studies.
Comments and ideas are welcome.
2 comments:
Dr. Shear,
I have a question about the scope of this blog. You write: "We are generally interested in how Jews, past and present, produced, used, and transmitted texts of various sorts and in various media." What about Jews who suppressed, destroyed, concealed, or did not use or transmit certain texts? Two things come to mind: (1) rabbinic Jews who jettisoned Philo of Alexandria (2) texts from Nag Hammadi (i.e., first and second century "Jewish Christians" who suppressed or destroyed Ebionite texts among other early "Christian" texts.
PS: I'd like to get a signed copy of your book when it is published :)
Jason,
Sure, why not? Censorship, external and internal, is certainly part of the history of the book.
I'll be happy to sign a copy of any book you put in my hands.
Post a Comment