longman, form criticism recent developments in genre theory and the evangelical

5/26/2018 Longman, Form Criticism Recent Developments in Genre Theory and the Evangelical

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WTJ47 (1985)46-67

FORM CRITICISM, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN

GENRE THEORY, AND THE EVANGELICAL*

TREMPER LONGMAN III

ATTITUDES toward form criticism are undergoing somesignificant changes in both liberal and evangelical circles.Critics are becoming increasingly wary of form criticism as

developed by Gunkel and others1 and are seeking change

either in an emphasis on other critical disciplines, particularly

rhetorical,2or by refining form criticism.3 In general, the feel-

* A shorter versionofthis article was deliveredas apaperat theannualmeetingofthe Evangelical Theological SocietyinDecember 1982.1While Gunkelis thebest knownofthe early form critics, M. Dibelius's,

H. Schmidt's,and H.Gressmann's studiesarealso fundamental; seeM.J.Buss, "The StudyofForms,"inOld Testament Form Criticism (ed.J.H.Mayes;San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 1974) 39fF. Forahistoryofthe riseof modern form criticism,see G.Tucker,Form Criticism ofthe Old Testament(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971).

2M.Weiss,TheBible FromWithin: The Method of TotalInterpretation(Jerusale

Magnes Press, 1984) represents the approach of rhetorical criticism (working

with categories developedbyNew Criticism) and places this approach overagainstaform critical approach.3For example,M.J. Buss, "Appropriate and Not-so-Appropriate Waysof

Relating Historical and Functional Methods: A Draft," SBLSP (1972) 2.413-48;W. G. Doty, "Fundamental Questions about Literary Critical Methodology:AReview Article,"JAAR40 (1972) 521-27;P.D.Hanson, "AResponsetoJ*J. Collins' 'Methodological Issuesin theStudyof IEnoch/ " SBLSP(1978); M. Kessler, "From DroughttoExile:aMorphological Study of Jer.14:1-15: 4," SBLSP (1972) 2.501-22;R.Knierem, "Old Testament FormCriticism Reconsidered,"Int27(1973) 435-68; J.O.Lewis, "Gen. 32: 23-

33:Seeing a Hidden God," SBLSP (1972) 2.449-57; F. Letzen-Deis, "Methodologische berlegungenzurBestimmung literarische Gattungen im NeuenTestament " Bib 62 (1981) 1 20; R F Melugin "The Typical Versus the


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Testament Bib 62 (1981) 1-20; R F Melugin The Typical Versus the

FORM CRITICISM 47

ing is growing that Gunkel's method too rigidly defines genres, identifies exemplars, and derives benefits. Evangelicals,on the other hand, are slowly coming to a cautious appreciation and more explicit use of form criticism.4There are stillsome evangelicals who on the basis of an identification ofform criticism with a critical, negative application of thismethod would say along with one scholar in the late sixties:

. . . it is obvious that a consistent, thorough-going form criticism will haveno appeal to those who desire to recognize the inspiration of the Scripturesand the historical continuity between the Lord Jesus and the early church.And let all "conservatives" who are inclined to adopt some form criticalterminology and viewpoints be apprised of the basic nature ofthat to whichthey are accommodating themselves.*

Nevertheless, many evangelicals believe that form criticismhas worth: "If form criticism is properly handled, the resultscan shed light on the Scriptures, although the values depend

on the kind of literature being considered."6

A real difference of viewpoint is represented in these twoquotations and the present opinions on the matter are likelyeven further apart than they illustrate.7The thesis of this paperis that the move toward a positive and constructive form criticism as a hermeneutical tool is a proper one and that evan-

Criticism," SBLSP (1971) 2.587-600; A. M. Vater, "Story Patterns for aSitz:A Form or Literary-Critical Concern?"JSOT 11 (1979) 47-56 which also

criticizes rhetorical criticism for ignoring the diachronic dimensions of a text.4Avery recent case in point is the penetrating and technical study by G.

Osborne, "Genre CriticismSensusLiteralis," TrinityJournal 4 (1983) 1-27.5S. N. Gundry, "A Critique of Form Criticism,"BibS 123 (1966) 148-49.6H. M.Wolf,"Implications of Form Criticism for OT Studies,"BibS 127

(1970) 302. It is interesting to note that Gundry's comments pertain directlyto Gospel research, whereas Wolf deals with the OT. Their respective attitudes may be at least partially influenced by the negative conclusions of formcriticism on the historicity of the Gospel accounts, on the one hand, and onthe other hand, the obvious benefits of applyingaform critical study on such

OT books as the Psalms.71 detect in the opposition aimed at R. H. Gundry,Matthew:A Commentaryon His Literary and Theological Art (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1982) an nder


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on His Literary and Theological Art (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1982) an under

48 WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

gelicals should continue to formulate and apply suchamethodwhich is shorn ofthenegative presuppositions ofthemethodas applied by critics. This paper further contends that somerecent developments in genre theory will aid in such a constructive approach.

I. Traditional Form Criticism

The best place to begin is with a description of Gunkel'sapproach to form criticism. Needless to say, refinements andmodifications have been suggested over the past decades, andmany have been accepted. Indeed, I will incorporate many ofthese more recent insights into my own approach. Nevertheless,form criticism as generally practiced today does not substantially differ from that of the earlier periods. In any case,Gunkel's thought constitutes a convenient starting point inthat it contains many of the elements which have rankled the

sensibilities of evangelicals8 and also provides the foundations, at least, for modern critical practice of formal analysis.

Gunkel was concerned to isolate and define the variousforms(Formen)and genres(Gattungen)of Scripture (see terminological discussion below). In this he was reflecting concernswhich engaged other scholars in the field of literature, particularly folklorists like P. Wendland and E. Norden. Furthermore, his dependence on the brothers Grimm9 is well

known. Unfortunate, though, for Gunkel and his followersdown to the present day is the fact that he adopted a view ofgenre which was obsolete even while he was writing.10Thismay be noted in at least four areas.

8L. Coppes, "Hermann Gunkel: A Presentation and Evaluation of HisContributions to Biblical ResearchChiefly in the Area of Old Testament"(Unpublished Th.D. dissertation: Westminster Theological Seminary, 1968)and idem., "The Contribution of Hermann Gunkel to Old Testament His

torical Research/' inThe Law and the Prophets(ed. J. H. Skilton; Nutley, NJ:Presbyterian and Reformed, 1974) 174-94.9 Noted by G Tucker Form Criticism 4-5 and M J Buss "The Study of


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Noted by G. Tucker, Form Criticism, 4-5, and M. J. Buss, The Study of

FORM CRITICISM 49

First, Gunkel believed that genres are pure, that they areseparate categories of literature. This doctrine of the purityof genres, well known from his negative evaluation of mixedgenres in the Psalms,11was not current in his own day, butrather was the predominant opinion of neoclassical literaryscholars of the nineteenth century who were repeating anAristotelian view of genre.12

Second, Gunkel set up certain criteria for the identification

of the genre of texts. He examined three factors in order togenerically classify a text: (1) the mood and thought(s) of thetext; (2) the linguistic forms (grammar and vocabulary); (3)the social setting(Sitz im Leben).1S

Third, form criticism as developed by Gunkel and otherswas primarily applied to literature which was believed to beoral in origin. Indeed, Gunkel considered the inscripturationof an oral composition to result in the degeneration of the

text.Another tenet of Gunkel's approach to form criticism, onewhich has been a source of irritation to evangelicals, is hiscontention that each genre hasasocialsetting and furthermorethat each genre hasoneand only one social setting. His position must be set over against earlier opinion that the psalmsoriginated in a specific historical event, either in David's life(conservatives) or the Maccabean period (critics). Indeed,Gunkel's original position was to assert that all the earlypoems originated in the cult and that it was only the latepoetry which had managed to free itself from the shackles oforganized religion and find its roots in individual piety.

This is Gunkel's view in a nutshell, a view, furthermore,which is the norm for many recent form critical studies. Furthermore, it is this view of form criticism which has beenattacked by evangelicals. I believe that Gunkel and his fol-

11H. Gunkel, The Psalms (trans, by T. M. Horner; Philadelphia: FortressPress,1967) 36-39.

12 G N G O i i "G " i P i E l di f P d P i


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12 G N G O i i "G " i P i t E l di f P t d P ti

5 0 WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

lowers perpetuated many misconceptions about genre analysis,and it is high tim to get back in touch with what peopleare doing in genre theory.

But first a terminological note. There is general confusionin the use of the two terms "genre" or Gattungand "form"orForm.Sometimes these two words refer to the same literaryunit; at other times they are used for different levels of abstraction from the literary text. Usually both terms are em

ployed to describe the literary category of a small portion ofa text which has been isolated from a larger work. The situation is confusing, however, since scholars use genre tocategorize the whole work as well. I tend to reserve "form"to refer to the smaller units and "genre" for larger units, butprinciples apply to both. For instance, "lament" may be usedas agenre category to describe whole psalms (like Psalms 69and 83) or as aformal category to describe cases like Job 3,where it is only part of the whole composition.

II. Modern Literary Theory

What can literary theory teach biblical scholars about genre?In the first place, we can benefit from a more flexible definitionof genre. What is a genre?

1. ACommunicative-Semiotic Approach to Genre

In the act of reading, a transaction takes place between theauthor and the reader, a transaction which is a form of communication.14 Now, there is an adage which instructs: "theindividual is ineffable."15 That is, something which is totallyunprecedented is incommunicable. In literary terms, a text

which bears no similarities of structure, content, or the like14 The following is a communicative-semiotic description of genre That


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The following is a communicative-semiotic description of genre. That

FORM CRITICISM 51

with anything previously written cannot be understood by areader.

The reader, in fact, approaches a text with certain "expectations" which arise at the beginning of the reading processand which are grounded in previous reading experience.When a reader begins reading, (s)he makes a conscious orunconscious genre identification, which brings along with itcertain expectations concerning the whole of the text.

Furthermore, not only is "genre" recognizable in the expectations of the reader, but it also directs the author as (s)hecomposes the text.16It shapes or coerces17the writer so thathis/her composition can be grasped and communicated tothe reader.

Genre theorists have offered a number of metaphors ormodels (though the theorists themselves do not consider themas such) to describe a communicative understanding of

genre.18

Chief among these theorists, R. WellekandA.Warrenspeak of genre as an "institution,", similar to the state, university or church.19An individual joins an institution, followsits rules and regulations in the main but may opt to fight forchange in either a subtle or radical manner. Genres, similarly,compel authors,20but can be changed subtly or radically by

16G. Dillon, Constructing Texts: Elements ofa Theory ofComposition and Sty(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981).

17R. Wellek and A. Warren,TheoryofLiterature(NewYork:Harcourt BraceJovanovich, 1963) 226, and D. Kambouchner, "The Theory of Accidents,"Glyph 7 (1980) 149-75.

18It should be pointed out that the theorists described belowarenot agreedconcerning the ontological status of genres. Some are realists or concep-tualists; others are nominalists (see Osborne, "Genre Criticism," 9ff). Thereare also other significant differences between them concerning literary criticaltheory. There has been no attempt to adopt a "party line" approach in thisarticle.

19R. Wellek and A. Warren,TheoryofLiterature, 226.20This is not to deny that some authors consciously break literary con

ventions in an effort to compel rather than be compelled. J. Culler,The Pursuitf


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f Si (Ith NY C ll U i it P 1981) 37 dd thi i

52 WESTMINSTERTHEOLOGICALJOURNAL

them. Though R. Wellek and A.Warrenare realists in termsof thequestion of genre ontology, their "institution" analogydemonstrates that such a viewpoint is not necessarily regu-lative and prescriptive,

21 but can be descriptive. The former

approach was correctly discredited by the Romantics.22

A second metaphor compares genres with legal "con-tracts."

23 Genres are expectations commonly agreed on by

authors and readers. A similar conception is found in the

workof T. Todorov, the eminent structuralist, who refers togenresascodes.

24In bothcasesthe metaphors emphasize the

communicative nature ofgenre.Thatis,it is the literary phe-nomenon which allows the writer to communicate to thereader in an intelligible way.

Another metaphor enters genre theory via philosophy, spe-cifically language philosophy.E.D.Hirsch

25draws onL.Witt-

genstein'sanalogyofthesentenceasagame.Justasasentence

isa game, so too is genre. In games there are rules, and theserules shape the play of the game. His game analogy is apt.sincelanguage(syntax,diction,etc.)and genrealsohave ruleswhich govern their successful operation.

26

A further metaphor which illumines the nature of the rerlationship between a genre and its exemplarscomes,like theWittgensteinian gameanalogy, from thesentenceleveland issecondarily applied toclasses of texts.K. Hempfer,

27 P. Ri-

coeur,28

and others29

borrow the terminology from transfor

21

Aristotle and the neoclassical school of the nineteenth century regardedgenres as regulative and prescriptive, cf. G. . G. Orsini, "Genres," 307.

22

G.. G. Orsini, "Genres," 308.23

M. Billson, "The Memoir: New Perspectives on a Forgotten Genre,"Genre 1 (1977) 25982.

24

T. Todorov, TheFantastic:A StructuralApproach to aLiteraryGenre (transR. Howard and with Introduction by R.Scholes;Ithaca, NY: Cornell Uni-

versity Press, 1974);cf.J.Culler, ThePursuitof Signs, 1112,37.25

E.D. Hirsch,ValidityinInterpretation (New Haven:YaleUniversityPress,1967)68ff.

26

M Amsler elaborates on this using the specific example of a football


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M Amsler elaborates on this using the specific example of a football

FORM CRITICISM 53

mational grammar as developed by N. Chomsky. Chomsky'sfundamental insight is that an infinite numberof actual sen-tencesin a language is generated by a finite numberof basicsentences.The finite basic sentences are the deep structureof the language, while the infinite number of sentences arethe surface structure. Similarly, some scholars refer to theinfinite (potentially speaking) numberof texts in a languageasthe surface structure,behindwhich one finds a finite group

of literary kinds or genres which generate thetextsthemselves.Lastly, R. D. Abrahams

30 focuses on the communicative

function of genres when he calls them 'patterns ofexpression'and explains that authors conform to such patterns and read-ersexpect them.

In summary, contemporary genre theorists employ variousanalogies for their understanding of genre. Association ofgenre with institution, contract, game, code, deep structure

and patterns ofexpressionunderlines three points concerninggenre: (1) Genre explains the possibility of communication inaliterary transaction;(2)Genres rest uponexpectationswhicharise in readers when they confront atext; (3) Authors can

be coerced in composition to conform to genre expectations.

2. TheAncientsand Genre

Now that genres have been described, we need to ask thequestion of their utility in interpreting ancient (particularly

biblical) texts.Indeed,afrequently asked and legitimate ques-tion concerns whether or not we are imposing modern, West-ern notions of literature on ancient Semitic literature. Are wenot running into the danger of distorting the material byimposing modern concepts and even modern generic titleson ancient texts? After all, the concept of genre was not

explicit until the writings ofPlatoand Aristotle.

31

Israelite andother Near Eastern scribes were not concerned with a preciseand selfconscious generic classification of their literature

32


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and selfconscious generic classification of their literature


A number of points could be made concerning this issue,but let me keep my remarksbrief.D. Ben-Amos33and R. D.Abrahams34 correctly deny the possibility of a culture-freegenre system. A finite set of genres which appears in theliteratures of many cultures and of every historical perioddoes not exist. We must admit that there is no universalgeneric similarity. New genres develop; old ones die out.35Inaddition, certain cultures utilize some genres and neglect oth

ers.For example, in the ancient world there is nothing comparable to the modern novel. In the same way, twentieth-century American literature contains few omens, ifanyat all.Nevertheless, though a culture-free genre system does notexist, the native literary classification of each culture (or lackof it) need not be (uncritically) adopted in order to identifythe genres of that culture.

The separation of etic and ernie36approaches to literaturedeal with these cultural determinants in literary classification.The ernie seeks native designations and classification of literature. The advantage of this method is that the researchergains insight into the native consciousness of a particular textand also the relationship between that text and others bearingthe same designation. The etic view of literature imposes anon-native grid or classification scheme onto the texts in orderto categorize them. While there is always the danger of distorting understanding ofthetexts by imposing foreign stand-

33D. Ben-Amos, "Analytical Categories and EthnicGenres,"Genre1 (1968)275-301.

34R. D. Abrahams, "The Complex Relations of Simple Forms," 104-28.35 See A. Fowler, "The Life and Death of Literary Forms,"New Literary

History 2 (1970/71) 199-216.36

K.Pike,Language inRelation to a Unified Theory ofthe StructureofHumaBehavior(The Hague: Mouton, 1967) chap. 2, and V. Poythress, "Analysing

a Biblical Text: Some Important Linguistic Distinctions,"SJTS2 (1979) 113-37;idem, "Analysing a Biblical Text: What Are We After?,"SJT32 (1979)319-31 The emic/etic distinction was first proposed in linguistics where it


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319-31 The emic/etic distinction was first proposed in linguistics where it

FORM CRITICISM 55

ards on them, benefits abound, as will be shown below.37Inthefirstplace, it should be pointed out that the Israelite (andMesopotamian for that matter) scribes were not concernedwith a precise and self-conscious generic classification of theirliterature.38Both were innovations of the Greeks. While theMesopotamians did provide many of their literary texts withlabels which partially categorized them, these are not alwaysgeneric names. For instance, the widespread use ofz-mi

"praise" occurs in texts of various genres (hymns,39myths,40epics,41Lehrgedicht*2)and should be referred to as the modeofthetexts.43Other names assigned to individual texts by thenative scribes (tigi and so on) principally concern musicalaccompaniment, not generic relationships. Still other nativelabels reflect the method of recitation (sir-gid-da). A secondlocus of native literary classification occurs in the literary catalogues.44Yet, here too the classificatory principle is not sys

tematically generic. While texts of the same genre areoccasionally listed together in a catalogue,45usually they arenot. In a catalogue from Ur published by S. N. Kramer,46forexample, there are many different genres represented.47

While the Israelite and other Near Eastern peoples werenot concerned as far as we know with genres on a theoreticallevel, their writings are conducive to a generic approach, perhaps even more than modern literature. The latter frequently

37J. Cooper, The Return of Ninurta to Nippur (AnOr 52; Rome: BiblicalInstitute Press, 1978) 5, notes the advantage of "transcending" ancient attempts at classification. W. W. Hallo, review of Cooper, TheReturn,infAOS101 (1981) 253-57, takes issue with Cooper on this subject.

38Grayson, Babylonian Historical-Literary Texts,4ff.39Hymn to Enlil, the All-Beneficent, ANET 573-76 (line 170).40Cf. Enki and Ninhursag,ANET 37ff. (line 279).41Cf. Gilgamesh and Agga,ANET 44. (line 115).42See Cooper, The Return,5.43Z-mi refers to the fact that these are compositions for praise.44J. Krecher, "Literarische Kataloge," RLA 5 (1976-80) 478-85.45 'O A i i f S i i "/ OS 83 (1963)


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45 W W H ll 'O th A ti it f S i Lit t "/ OS 83 (1963)

56 WESTMINSTERTHEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

prides itself in being innovative and iconoclastic,but ancientNear Eastern literature was much less so.

48 Thus, generic

similarities do exist in ancienttexts.The value of an etic approach, a generic classification based

on modern rather than ancient analysis and identification,49

is supported by the discussion of the next few pages (seebelow section III).

3. GenresandGenerality(A Fluid TheoryofGenre)

At this point, Iwill begin to critique traditional form crit-icism and formulate a positive approach to biblical genrestudy, utilizing the insights of modern literary theory.

The first area in which Iwouldlike to subject form criticismas traditionally practiced to the analysis of modern genre

theory is in Gunkel's attitude toward formsasdiscreteentities.The neoclassical approach gave the impression that genreswerepureand fixed, also that they existed at only one levelofabstraction.

Actually, though, genre and its synonyms (literary kind,type, class) have been employed in various ways even whenrestricted to the text as a whole. Beginning withPlato,

50there

is a tradition which names three genres: drama, epic, andlyric. Others take genre in the sense of the socalled "histor-ical"genres:51novel, sonnet, memoir, etc. or as an even nar-rower category like E. D. Hirsch's intrinsic genre.

52

Inother words, scholars in the past and the present haveexpended much effort to determine the correct abstractionlevel of "genre." How many traits must be shared by textsinorder to classify them as belonging to another type? Another

48

R.Knierem, "OldTestamentForm CriticismReconsidered,"43536.49

Emicapproaches are considered to be the ideal in Assyriology, cf. .Landsberger, "The Conceptual Autonomy of the Babylonian World," inSources and Monographs on the Ancient Near East (Malibu: Undena 1976) This


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Sources and Monographs on the Ancient Near East (Malibu: Undena 1976) This

FORM CRITICISM 57

waytostate theproblem is asfollows:Aregenres finiteorare they infinite innumber?53

The answertothis problemisthat genre existsat alllevelsof generality and thatthemake-up and natureofaparticulargenre dependsonthe viewpoint which the researcher adopts.In other words, it ispossible tospeak of abroad genreofmany texts which havefewtraitsincommon,or ofanarrowgenre of as few as two texts which are identicalinmany ways.It depends on thedecision of theresearcher, andhis/herdecision arises from his/her research needs.54Thus, withT.Todorov,55forexample,it iscorrecttospeakofgenreson ascale which ranges fromone("jedes Werk stellt eine eigene'Gattung' dar") to the maximum ("alle Texte gehren zu einer'Gattung'").56 Suchanotion of genre suggests that genresarenotrigid categories.57

Thefluidityof genre designations is best demonstrated with

an example. Psalm 98 may be classified inavariety of differentgenres, dependingon thelevelofabstraction from thetextitself.

58Itmaybeclassified very broadlyas apoem and shareafew general similarities with other texts whichwecallpoetry.59Ontheother extreme, Psalm98maybeclassified narrowlyas in agenre with only Psalm96.Psalm96 isvirtuallyidentical toPsalm98withtheexception thattheformerin-

53T. Todorov, The Fantastic.54G. S.Morson, The Boundaries ofGenre: Dostoevsky's 'Diary ofa Writer' an

theTraditions ofLiterary Utopia(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981)vi-viii.

55See also Morson, The Boundaries, 5, 7ff. and C. DiGirolamo, A CriticalTheoryofLiterature (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981) 74,75.

56As cited in K.Hempfer, Gattungstheorie, 137.57The Wittgensteinian concepts of "blurred edges" or"fuzzy concepts"

are appropriate to describe the overlapping which does occur between genres,cf. . E. Amsler, "Literary Theory and the Genres of Middle English Lit-erature," 390.


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58


eludes a diatribe against idol worship. Between these twoextremes are a variety of other potential classifications forPsalm 98. Moving from broad to narrow, Psalm 98 may betreated as a poem, a cultic hymn, a hymn concerning God'skingship, a divine warrior victory psalm and finally as mostclosely related to Psalm 96. One of the benefits of such a fluidapproach to genre is that it demands that the exegete attendas closely to the peculiarities of the text as to its similarities.

4. ClassificationofTexts into Genres

The second area in which traditional form criticism needsrevision concerns the method of classifying texts into genres.What criteria do we use to place genres in their proper category?

Stated quite simply, if we are going to conceive of genres

as fluid and overlapping, any type of similarity is appropriate.Gunkel restricted his criteria to three: content, mood andsetting, but there is no reason why we cannot use many typesof similarities. The following two sections address the question of the determination ofagenre of a text. -

( 1 ) The relationshipofa genre to its membertexts.By what meadoes one recognize a genre? There have been three answersto this question: historical, deductive, and inductive.

The historical method pays attention to historical notices,titles of books and so on. H.R.Jauss60and G. P. Firmat,61intheir generic criticism, seek "poetological documents," i.e.evidence from the time period of the literary category underdiscussion, which groups and labels the documents as a class.The main sources for reconstructing a genre are the criticaltreatments which were contemporary with the texts underconsideration. The main problem with this approach, however, is that contemporary critical observations on a text maybe incorrect. It seems better to work with the texts in thepresent. A second difficulty arises which is particularly acute


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present. A second difficulty arises which is particularly acute

FORM CRITICISM 59

etological documents" to be found, that is no critical observations for reconstructing genres. Ifthismethod or approachhas any utility, it is in the modern period of literature whencritical works abound.

N. Frye represents the deductive approach to generic criticism.62 He develops a complex modal grid which he thenimposes on the texts.63

The third approach, the inductive,64is best. It starts neither

with the literary class nor with individual texts, but with bothin interaction with each other. Inbrief,the whole (genre) canonly be understood through the parts (the texts) and the partsonly through the whole. This isaversion of the hermeneuticalcircle (or better stated, spiral),65which states that the meaningofatext can only be comprehended from the individual words,phrases and sentences which constitute it; conversely, however, the individual elements of the text can only be grasped

through a knowledge of the whole. In short, genres can beelucidated only from the texts themselves.(2) Genre-identifyingelements.Part of the confusion surround

ing the identification of texts which cohere into a genre originates in unclarity concerning the kind of similarities amongtexts which signal that they belong to the same genre. Gunkel,as mentioned, felt that a text could be generically classifiedaccording to three criteria: (a) the mood and thought(s) of

the text; (b) the linguistic forms (grammar and vocabulary);(c) the social setting.66 Gunkel is followed by many otherscholars.67 Ben-Amos renames these the "cognitive, expressive and behavioral levels."68

There are, however, other traditions of literary typing. N.Frye in his genre theory types texts on the basis of motifs and

62N. Frye,Anatomy ofCriticism(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1957)243ff.

68 Criticism of N. Frye in T. Todorov, TheFantastic, 8ff.64Described by T. Todorov, TheFantastic, 3- 23 ; K. Hempfer,Gattungstheorie,


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128ff d E D Hi h V lidi i I i


themes,69whereas H.R.Jauss and G. P. Firmat type texts onthe basis of historical associations.70

The approach of the present study is to accept similaritiesbetween texts on many levels and the interrelationships between these similarities as evidence of generic identity. Thesesimilarities can be divided into two categories: inner and outerforms.71 The outer form of a text includes the structure ofthe text and the metrical or nonmetrical speech rhythm. On

the other hand, the category inner form of the text refers tothe nonformal aspects of the texts, the mood, setting, function, narrative voice and content.

The following chart lists some of the similar characteristicswhich unite Psalm 98 with Psalms 18, 47, 68, 93, 96 into asingle genre (at one level of abstraction):

Psalm98 Psalms 18, 47, etc.

Outer Form

Poetic style (parallelism, imagery, etc.) Poetic style

Inner Form

Kingship theme (content) Kingship themePraise (mood) Praise

Divine Warrior Hymn (function) Divine WarriorHymn

III. The Benefitsof aGeneric Approach toBiblical Texts

What is the value of genre analysis? How does our studyof the form of a text aid in exegesis? At this point, I will

present what I consider to be the four main benefits of genreanalysis.


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FORM CRITICISM 61

1.Genre Identificationasthe Key tothe Meaningof a TextThe importance of identifying the genre of a text extends

beyond that of classification. As E. D. Hirsch72persuasivelyargues, the meaning of a text is genre-bound. In other words,the reader can arrive at a correct understanding of a text onlythrough a correct genre analysis. Thus, in interpreting a text,the reader must take steps toward determining its propergenre.

Hirsch demonstrates his contention that genre identification is significant as a guide to the meaning of the text byshowing what results from misinterpretation. Genre misiden-tification leads to misinterpretation. The following quote fromHirsch illustrates his point even though I admit it is a littleflippant:

The central role ofgenreconcepts in interpretation is most easily graspedwhen the process of interpretation is going badly or when it has to undergo

revision: 'Oh! you've been talking about a book all the time. I thought itwas about a restaurant.. .'7S

According to Hirsch, recognition ofafaulty interpretationjars the readers into revising their genre identification andtherefore their genre expectations as well. Hirsch conceivesof the process of reading and/or interpretation as the development of successive genre identifications until the finaldecisive identification which determines the reader's inter

pretation of the whole. These successive identifications arealso a continual narrowing process from broad genre to intrinsic genre. The broad genre serves a heuristic function inthe interpretive process; the broad class provides a basicframework within which the researcher can work. As more ofthe text is read and understood, the researcher can identifyit as a member of smaller and smaller classes until, finally,the text is located in, to use Hirsch's words, an "intrinsic

72E.D. Hirsch, Validityin Interpretation;idem., "The Norms of Interpretation " Genre 2 (1969) 57-62; idem The Aims of Interpretation Also see the


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tion, Genre 2 (1969) 57-62; idem., The Aims of Interpretation. Also see the


genre." The latter is more than a heuristic tool; rather, it isconstitutive of meaning.74

Hirsch's connection between genre identification and interpretation of meaning is significant; however, his characterization of intrinsic genres is vague. He locates them somewherebetween the broad genres and the individual text itself.It isdifficult, therefore, to understand what he means by intrinsicgenre. This vagueness is especially unfortunate since the con

cept is central to his interpretive method. While he believesthat genres are flexible in terms of their abstraction level, he,places greater value in the narrower, intrinsic class.

Yet, in principle, he is correct. If one extrapolates from aknown to an unknown, the greater the degree of similaritybetween the two, the more likely the analogy will bear up.

Let me illustrate the importance of this point with an example.75 For years debate has raged over the proper translation ofyhwhmahk,an expression which occurs in a numberof psalms (Ps 47:9; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1). Should it berendered "Yahweh reigns" or "Yahweh is becoming king"?76

Grammatically, either translation is defensible. However, thedifference in translation results in a radical difference in interpretation. The former translation assumes that Yahweh'sever-present and ever-past kingship is being affirmed, whereasthe latter supposes that Yahweh's kingship is being(re)established. As one studies the history of the problem,

one can observe how the translation depends on a previousgenre identification. Those who have identified these psalms

74E.D. Hirsch,Validity, 116ff.75S. B. Parker, "Some Methodological Principles in Ugaritic Philology,"

Maarav2 (1979) 7-41, and also P. D. Hanson, "Zechariah 9 and the Recapitulation of an Ancient RitualPattern,"JBL92 (1973) 37-59 are other examples. Parker uses Hirsch's concept of genre to move Ugaritic researchbeyond its present tired state. Comparative philology has gone about as far

as it will go in terms of elucidating the Ugaritic texts.76S. Mowinckel,The Psalms inIsraels Worship (Nashville: Abingdon, 1962)1.107F; E. Lipinski, "Yahweh Malak," Bib 44 (1963) 405-60; and D. R. Ap-


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1.107F; E. Lipinski, Yahweh Malak, Bib44 (1963) 405 60; and D. R. Ap

FORM CRITICISM 63

as having a central role in an annual enthronement ceremonywill choose to translate "is becoming king," but those whoreject such a genre identification77 will go along with thealternative. In short, generic identification determines thetranslation ofyhwh mlk in these poems.

In summary to this section, the meaning ofatext is genre-bound thus providing impetus for the researcher to identifythe type of literature he is in the process of interpreting.

2. Genre and the Identificationofthe Settingof aText (Sitz im Lebe

As mentioned, H. Gunkel developed the idea that each"form" has a particular "setting" in the life ofthecommunity(Sitz imLeben). He separated himself from earlier practicewhere effort was expended to discover the historical occasionfor a particular text's composition and instead focused on its

place within the religious-social community. For example, inthe study of the psalms it became the practice, after Gunkel,for OT exegetes to search for the place which each psalmoccupied in the cultic ritual rather than for the historical eventwhich stimulated its composition (an episode in the life ofDavid for conservative scholars or an event in the Maccabeanperiod for critical ones).78Gunkel and his followers felt thatif the form of a textual unit could be identified, that form

could be connected with one particular social setting.While there is value in this insight, Gunkel's position requires modification. The idea that each form had one andonly oneSitz imLeben is too rigid. Similarly his contentionthat the setting is exclusively social is questionable.

(1) As W. G. Doty has pointed out in connection with NTform criticism, Gunkel's position must be altered to allow formultiple social settings that each form may occupy, and conversely, that one particular social setting may generate morethan one specific genre.79


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(2) The idea that each form or genre has asocial settinghas been challenged recently by Andre Jolies. He contendsthat a genre80 arises from a purely intellectual origin, whathe calls an Occupation of the mind'(Geistesbeschftigung).81 R.Knierem well states Jolies' position82 in contradistinction toGunkel's:

It does not matter here whether Jolies was right in some of his interpretations or not. What matters is the fact that once more we are confronted

with a position according to which generic formations of language andliterature have their correlatives in the typical operations of man's mind.Genres are the forms of expression through which these mental operationsfunction. ForJolies,generic identity is constitutedbythe typical occupationof mindasit expresses itself in language.Inview ofJolies'impact, especiallyin Old Testament form criticism, it is worthwhile to mention that hislinguistically oriented understanding of genres is significantly differentmethodologically from Gunkel's sociologically oriented understanding.89

In conclusion, genres may help us recover the original set

ting ofatext. But there is no necessity to identifyoneparticularsocial matrix as the setting. Settings may be multiple andsocial, historical and/or intellectual.

3. Genre and the ExposureofLiterary Relationships

Northrup Frye is to the point when he states the followingconcerning the value of generic criticism:

The purpose of criticism by genres is not so much to classify as to clarify. . . traditions and affinities thereby bringing out a large number of literaryrelationships that would not be noticed as long as there were no contextestablished for them.84

In other words, the very practice of examining a collection ofgenerically related texts will result in the illumination of eachindividual text.

80He works primarily with what he calls "elementary" forms(einfache Formen).


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men).

FORM CRITICISM 65

Among the authors who elaborate on this point is T.Todorov.85 He arrives at a formulation of a genre by distancing, abstracting or generalizing from specific texts. Afterdoing this, he does not believe, of course, that a descriptionof the genre as a whole will be a perfect and complete statement of each individual text. He does believe, however, thatthe grouping together of similar texts into a single coherentgenre will highlight the literary relationships among texts;

these relationships can then be applied to the interpretationof individual texts. For example, speaking generally, ifaparticular text is difficult to understand but can be grouped withina genre, the clearer texts within a genre may bring some lightto the more obscure one.

E.D. Hirsch has drawn the same conclusion and has appliedit to probability theory.86 While recognizing that probabilitytheory is native to the realm of science, he notes that most

everyday probability judgments

87

are nonetheless made basedon numerically unquantifiable factors. While probability judgments often produce uncertain results, uncertainty is true ofprobability judgmentsper se.They are only as certain as theevidence upon which they are based. In other words, they are"informed guesses." Probability judgments are guesses madeabout an unknown on the basis of known facts. How doesgenre enter into this discussion? If a particular text is unclearat a point, then it is an unknown. The clear representatives

of the genre are known facts. An informed guess about theunclear texts is then made on the basis of the clear (known)texts. The certainty of such a probability judgment isgrounded on the uniformity of the class or in this case genre.That is, increasing generic similarity enhances the certaintyofajudgment based on probability.

Since the psalms are a collection of individual and separatetexts,they have no normal literary context. More benefit may

be gained studying a psalm in the context of its genres thanby examining the immediately preceding and following


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in the context of other thanksgiving hymns rather than incomparison with Psalms 29 and 31. For most other texts,insight is gained by studying both the immediate literary context and its generic context. For instance, Nah 3: Iff. must bestudied in its literary context (as occurring between two metaphorical taunts [Nah 2: 12-14 and 3: 4-6]), but as a secondessential step in understanding Nah. 3: Iff. the exegete mustcompare and contrast it with all other occurrences of hoy

oracles in the prophets and the historical books.

4. GenreandComparative Studies

The grouping of texts into genres isanecessary prerequisiteto comparative studies. Once a genre of texts is clearly defined, it can then be compared to the same genre in another

culture. One must take into account, however, as W. W. Hallohas recently suggested,88 that when comparisons are beingmade between two cultures or literatures, dissimilarities aswell as similarities need to be demonstrated.

The importance of genre in comparative studies has beenemphasized inarecent article by P. Craigie where he attemptsto develop some methodological controls on Ugaritic-Hebrewcomparisons.89 One of the preconditions for making such a

comparison between two texts is that the texts belong to thesame genre.The use of the comparative method has deeply enriched

our understanding of the OT as it helps us rediscover thecultural and generic background to the text. Meredith Klinehas forcefully demonstrated that OT covenant texts bear aclose generic relationship with Hittite treaties and has drawnsignificant and helpful implications from this relationship.90

88For a recent discussion, see W. W. Hallo, "Biblical History in its NearEastern Setting: The Contextual Approach " in Scripture in Context: Essays on


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Eastern Setting: The Contextual Approach in Scripture in Context: Essays on

FORM CRITICISM 67

In another article,91 I have argued that Qphelet's speech(Ecc 1: 11-12: 7) is a didactic autobiography similar to threeAkkadian literary compositions (Cuthaean Legend of Naram-Sin,the Adad-guppi inscription and the so-called Sin of Sargon text). In my opinion, the comparison helps explain someof the problems encountered in interpreting this difficultbook.

These examples could be multiplied many times over, but

the point is that such studies can only be done on the basisofaprevious genre analysis.

Summary

There is no escape from genre analysis. The question forthe exegete is whether his or her analysis will be consciousand methodical or unconscious. Whenever we read anything

we make at least an unconscious genre identification whichtriggers a certain reading strategy in our mind. The intentionofthisarticle has been to encourage a conscious approach togenre identification in exegesis.

Westminster Theological SeminaryPhiladelphia


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^ s

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