A Narrative Interpretation Of Prophets’ Image In The Prophets

The Bible is not only a Jewish-Christian canon, but also a literary masterpiece.Its literariness has been widely recognized in the academia. As a great source ofwestern literature, the Bible has greatly influenced the implied meaning of Literature.The Prophets, as the product of the Hebraic prophetic movement from the middleperiod of8th century BC to5th century BC, occupies a pivotal position in the Biblebecause of its unique structure and style. The studies on the Prophets abroad mainlyfocused on its religious meaning and Jewish doctrine from perspective of theologyand religion. Since the18th century, an increasing number of scholars began to studythe Bible as a classic of ancient culture. The literary study of the Bible emerged fromthe middle of18thcentury to20thcentury, but the studies on the Prophets were stillmuch less than History and Torah. In China, the literary study on the Prophets is alsoconfined to the ideological and form features with scare attention being paid to itsliterariness. This thesis attempts to analyze the character types, structural patterns andthe characterization of prophets’ image from the aspect of narratology. It is hoped thatthe thesis would contribute to the domestic study of Bible, especially the Prophets.This thesis is divided into three parts:Chapter One explores the features of the prophets’ image. The first sectiondiscusses how the prophets deliver the God’s words in narrative. The second sectionemphasizes the promoting role of prophets’ image.Chapter Two probes the functions of prophets’ image. The first section discussesthe actants’ modes of prophets’ action. The second section explores the sequencepatterns of prophets’ discourse.Chapter Three discusses the construction of prophets’ image in narration. Thefirst section studies the role of prophets’ action to the construction of prophets’ image.The second section explores function of prophets’ speech to the construction ofprophets’ image.Finally, the following conclusion is drawn: first, the features of prophets lie inthe deliverance of morality and the promotion to the plot; second, the actants’ mode of prophets’ action points to their functions as the spokesmen of the God; third, thediscourse tension of prophets verified that the feature of prophets’ discourse is thatpunishment and promise exist together. Punishment results from sin and includessalvation; finally, the prophet’ image can be generated form action, speech and thedirect characterization of narrator. The characteristics, values and spirit represented bythe prophets’ image have retained an important practical value and significance for thewhole world culture.