The Art of Mystical Narrative

The Zohar, a foundational work of Jewish mysticism, is examined as a literary creation rather than solely as a theological or exegetical text. The book develops a poetics of its narratives, analyzing how mystical storytelling functions through devices such as dramatic monologue, gesture, and the theatrics of the tale. It explores themes of diaspora and exile, the wandering quest for wisdom, and moments of recognition. The relationship between narrative and exegesis is considered dynamic, and the Zohar's use of magical realism and the fantastic is discussed. The work also places the Zohar's frame-tale within the context of medieval Iberian literature, both Jewish and non-Jewish.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This book studies the Zohar as a work of literature. While the Zohar has long been recognized as a signal achievement of mystical theology, myth, and exegesis, this monograph presents a poetics of zoharic narrative, a morphology of mystical storytelling. Topics examined include mysticism and literature; fiction and pseudepigraphy; diaspora and exile; dramatic monologue and the representation of emotion; voice, gesture, and the theatrics of the zoharic tale; the wandering quest for wisdom; anagnorisis and the poetics of recognition; encounters with the natural world as stimuli for mystical creativity; the dynamic relationship between narrative and exegesis; magical realism and the fantastic in the representation of experience and Being; narrative ethics and the exemplum of virtuous piety in the Zohar; the place of the zoharic frame-tale in the comparative context of medieval Iberian literature, both Jewish and non-Jewish.