Allegoresis

[Dave Monroe]

Longxi, Zhang.  Allegoresis:
   Reading Canonical Literature East and West.
   Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 2005.

Why is it that a text, particularly a canonical text,
is often said to contain a meaning different from what
it literally says? How did allegorical readings arise
and develop? By looking at such examples as Jewish and
Christian interpretations of the Song of Songs and
traditional Chinese commentaries on the Confucian
classic Book of Poetry, Zhang Longxi discusses
allegorical readings from a broad perspective that
bridges the usual East/West cultural divide and
examines their social and political implications. His
approach is wide-ranging, cross-cultural, and
cross-disciplinary, exploring allegoresis with regard
to religion, philosophy, and literature. 

In his inquiry into allegory and allegorical
interpretation, Zhang examines the idea of a
self-explanatory text of the Bible as conceived by
Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther; discusses the
importance of the literal basis of textual
interpretation; and takes up the question of moral
responsibility and political allegiance. Zhang, who
regards utopia as an allegory of social and political
ideas, explores how utopian visions vary in their
Chinese and Western expressions, in the process
commenting on contemporary literary theory and
political readings of literature past and present.

http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4323


		
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