Save or sack the city

Subtitle:the fate of Jonah's Nineveh from a spatial perspective

This article revisits the fate of Nineveh in Jonah 3, drawing on a cognitive-stylistic analysis of the spatial conceptualization of the city. Building upon previous research that acknowledges a destructive aspect of the book of Jonah, the analysis of space builders (such as directional and locational prepositions, motion verbs, but also keywords and stylistic devices) shows that the city is neither saved nor destroyed by God, but brought down by itself (or rather its people). The foregrounded Nineveh of the first lines of Jonah 3 turns into a Nineveh that functions as Ground. This stylistic overturning, in line with the prophecy in Jonah 3.4, fits the enemy city into a spatial framework controlled by God.

Publication year:2017

Keywords:A1 Journal article

BOF-keylabel:yes

Authors from:Higher Education

Accessibility:Closed