The Narrative Analysis Of Biblical Mothers

The Bible is not merely a religious classic, but also a literary masterpiece. It isone of the two sources of Western literature and culture. With rich narrative, the Biblehas long been widely recognized as a literary book in academic world, but its literaryinterpretation and narrative techniques analysis are relatively late. The Bible is distinctwith its patriarchal culture ideology, however, for a long time, the research on itsgender consciousness hidden behind the narrative is far from enough, let alone on thebiblical mother-figures narrative. In1990s, the Western feminist scholars began tostudy the biblical mother narrative from the gender perspective, but till this century,there is hardly any scholar who researches on the biblical mother narrative as a whole,and performs a comprehensive and systematic analysis on it. Hence, combining thefeminism and narrative theory, this thesis selects the narrative of biblical motherimage as a whole, and explores in depth the mutual relationship of the patriarchalideology and narrative strategies reflected on the text.This thesis consists of three chapters.Chapter One elaborates on how the biblical mother-figures in typical scenesmanage to sustain the patrilineal system with the adoption of Robert Alter’s “typescene” theory. It is analyzed from two aspects: one is to focus on how a barren motherin annunciation type scene is blessed with a male heir in the intervention of the LORD,and the other one on how a fertile mother overcomes the difficulty of absence ofhusband to have a male heir.Chapter Two utilizes Lanser’s “voice” narrative theory to explore that how themother-figures’ voice as a narrative strategy supports male-dominating ideology. Itcomprises three sections: authorial voice speaking for the patriarch, mother voice’complicity with Male-centered ideology, and mother’s voice being suppressed.Chapter Three applies Genette’s “focalization” theory into the analysis of howmother-figures’ narrative point of view consolidates male supremacy. It is branchedinto tree aspects: zero-focalization to marginalize the mother, internal focalization todisplay an acquiescent mother and external focalization to distance the mother. The conclusion is branched into two main points. Firstly, in spite of the fact thatthe most biblical mother-figures occupy an important position, they are no more thanan instrument to serve for the patriarchal ideology and the patrilineal systemconsidering the narrative strategies hidden behind the narrative. The male-centeredgender awareness is closely related to the prevailing patriarchal culture. Secondly, itpoints out the limitation of classical narrative theory in the study of biblical mothernarrative and the necessity to bring in the post-classical narratology. The research onthe mother-figures narrative with the combination of feminism and narrative theorycan provide the reader much deeper and more comprehensive understanding.