In this definitive work Margaret Rose presents an analysis and history of theories and uses of parody from ancient to contemporary times and offers a new approach to the analysis and classification of modern, late-modern, and post-modern theories of the subject. The author's Parody/Meta-Fiction (1979) was influential in broadening awareness of parody as a 'double-coded' device which could be used for more than mere ridicule. In the present study she both expands and revises the introductory section of her 1979 text and adds substantial new sections on modern and post-modern theories and uses of parody and pastiche which also discuss the work of theorists and writers including the Russian formalists, Mikhail Bakhtin, Hans Robert Jauss, Wolfgang Iser, Julia Kristeva, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Ihab Hassan, Jean Baudrillard, Fredric Jameson, A. S. Byatt, Martin Amis, Charles Jencks, Umberto Eco, David Lodge, Malcolm Bradbury and others.

Robert Funk was the major seminal influence on parable scholarship in the second part of the twentieth century. His work on parable as metaphor led to the understanding of Jesus' parables as world-shattering. But it went beyond the question of metaphor: Funk redefined the form of the parable, made a substantial contribution to the argument that Jesus' parables originated in Greek, worked out a scale for evaluating parables as compositions, and proposed a model for how parables gave birth to resurrection faith. The essays in this volume, brought together for the first time, afford the reader a synoptic view of Funk's contribution?a contribution with which scholarship is only now beginning to deal.

Schipper examines the intimate relationship between parables and conflict in the Hebrew Bible. Challenging the scholarly consensus, he argues that parables do not function as appeals to change their audience's behavior.

In Proclaiming the Parables, noted preacher and scholar Thomas G. Long moves away from past treatment of the parables primarily as literary devices and moves toward an emphasis on their theological impact as pointers to the kingdom of God. While the parables are indeed significant poetic literary creations that have enchanted readers over the centuries, their main power, he claims, lies in their disclosure of the kingdom of God, which is not merely an idea, nor even just a complex symbol with generative and centrifugal force, but an event: the inbreaking of the life of God into human history and experience. Long sees parables not merely as creative figures of speech but as GPS devices taking hearers to those places where the event of God is happening all around us. This book provides two chapters for each synoptic Gospel. The first focuses on the Gospel as a whole and the parables’ place in it, and the second provides preachers and teachers with detailed exegetical and homiletical commentary for each major parable in that Gospel. Two introductory chapters additionally situate this book in the history and theology of the parables’ interpretation and address questions that preachers have about preaching the parables. Preachers who consult this volume will be informed about each major parable, guided through the controversies regarding interpretation, and stimulated to preach on the parable in fresh, faithful, and creative ways.

David Stern shows how the parable or mashal--the most distinctive type of narrative in midrash--was composed, how its symbolism works, and how it serves to convey the ideological convictions of the rabbis. He describes its relation to similar tales in other literatures, including the parables of Jesus in the New Testament and kabbalistic parables. Through its innovative approach to midrash, this study reaches beyond its particular subject, and will appeal to all readers interested in narrative and religion.

Fully one-third of Jesus' words in the Synoptic Gospels occur in parables. It could be said that knowing the parables is essential for understanding the person of Christ. In this work, Brad Young displays his unique perspective as a scholar steeped in both Jewish and Christian studies. While parables have timeless messages, reinterpretations in new contexts throughout the centuries have distorted the original meanings and undermined the essence of what Jesus intended for his initial listeners. Young examines the parables that best illustrate the parallels between the rabbinic and Gospel parables. He challenges readers to remember that first-century Judaism was not merely the backdrop for Jesus' teachings but the very stage from which Jesus delivered the message of the kingdom. Jesus' ethics and theology can be properly understood only in the light of first-century Jewish teachings. Young focuses on the historical development and theological significance of parables in both traditions and examines five theological subjects that are dealt with in parables: prayer, grace, reconciliation, calling, and sovereignty.