This book represents the definitive explanation of the literary device of the Key Signifier, a phrase which was coined by the author at the 2005 International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Singapore. This book serves as a handbook for understanding the literary device and for learning how to identify and use it in one's own composition, work of art, film or TV media.

"Intricately Connected contains academic papers presented by Kim at various international conferences in the fields of biblical studies, literary criticism, and intertextuality. The articles examine the question of how various literatures connect to consciousness and culture at personal and collective levels. The focus is on the functionality of literature across time and space and addresses such questions as: How do later books of the Bible, such as Jeremiah, utilize consciousness and ideas from earlier times, such as those found in the book Deuteronomy? How does Toni Morrison link African-American experience of today with experience of slavery hundreds of years ago? How does the film Da Vinci Code (2006) assess and manipulate the received tradition of the Lord's Supper?"--BOOK JACKET.

JEWISH LAW AND IDENTITY is the second book in the Hermit Kingdom Studies in Christianity and Judaism, an academic monograph series in Hebrew, Jewish, and Early Christian Studies. This book contains 9 academic essays relating to the theme of Jewish law and identity. Chapter one compares English contract law (Law of Privity of Contracts) with Jewish contract law as found in the book of Genesis (the Abrahamic covenant). Chapters two and three discuss Jewish Rabbinic Law and its relevance for understanding Jewish identity in the period of the composition of the documents. Chapters four, five and seven discuss Jewish individual and group identity as found in the Old Testament, particularly in relation to the religious practice (Temple worship) and political institutions (the monarchy) of ancient Israel. Chapter six is a theoretical discussion for understanding identity in relation to rituals. The author proposes "the atomic theory", utilizing the scientific concept of the atom with nucleus and electrons, applied in a social-scientific and humanistic way to texts and social realities. Chapter eight discusses the book of Acts and its interaction with Jewish identity and the impact of the movement founded by Jesus of Nazareth. Chapter nine discusses Jewish identity as seen through the pseudepigraphic text of the Psalms of Solomon and its relevant for the late Second Temple period. All the academic essays in the book discuss Jewish law and identity in a creative, and ground-breaking way in light of the most recent research trends. The essays represented here include important academic papers delivered at international conferences, like the Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting and the Australia and New Zealand Theological Society continental conference. This book is useful for using in college/university teaching and for advanced research in Jewish studies.

Zadokite Propaganda in the Late Second Temple Period is a monumental epoch-breaking work of scholarship in ancient history and Jewish studies. This book examines centuries of scholarship on ancient Jewish group identity and official Jewish religion in the most tumultuous period of Jewish history, namely the beginnings of the Maccabean era. Popularly known as the time period that gave the Jewish world the most famous Jewish celebration period, Hanukkah, the Maccabean Revolt was far more than a rebellion against Syrian domination. The period represented an important turning point in Jewish history, as village priests without any significant heritage or repute successfully overthrew and expelled Zadokite priests from the Jerusalem Temple and the city of Jerusalem itself. The Zadokites had been the legitimate and dominant priests of the Jerusalem Temple since the days of King Solomon, who built the First Jerusalem Temple. The physical and political displacement of Zadokite priests from their places of power, authority, and wealth produced historically significant literate communities, such as the Qumran community, and an abundance of literature, such as commentaries, creative poetry, and apocalyptic works. These writings all lamented the Zadokite displacement and prophesied a New Age, when all would be restored to the way it should be. Thus, Zadokites engaged in propaganda warfare of epic proportions with all their erudition and political savvy, creating a model for effective propaganda warfare. The Zadokite propaganda was so effective that it set the tone for the language and theme of the New Testament.

List of Contributors: The Rev. Prof. Heerak Christian Kim is Adjunct Professor of Asia Evangelical College and Seminary in Bangalore, India. Professor Kim was the Lady Davis Fellow in the State of Israel from 1996 to 1997, and is the author of many important books, among which is The Jerusalem Tradition in the Late Second Temple Period (2007). He has researched at UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Harvard University, Cambridge University, Heidelberg University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Rev. Prof. Young Mog Song is Lecturer of New Testament at Kosin University in Pusan, South Korea. Prof. Song holds Th.M. from Potchefstroom University and a Doctorate in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Professor Yong-Sun Yang teaches Systematic Theology at Wesley Institute in Sydney, Australia. Prof. Yang's journey began with an academic training in mathematics, which developed into a professional interest in economics. Gradually, interest in economics led Prof. Yang to an interest in philosophy and, finally, in theology. Prof. Yang lives in Sydney with his wife, Mi-Hea, three daughters, So-Ra, So-Ri and Ha-Neul, and one son, Jeong-Hun. Sunwoo Hwang received his BA from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. He then went to the United States, and received M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and S.T.M. in Old Testament from Yale University Divinity School. He then made an academic pilgrimage to Edinburgh, Scotland, and he is currently in the process of completing his Ph.D. in Hebrew and the Old Testament at the University of Edinburgh.

Key Concepts in Contemporary Literature offers a comprehensive overview of the literature and critical debates of the period since 1945. Setting texts in their historical, political and cultural contexts, it demonstrates how literature has dealt with and been shaped by the changing face of the modern world.

Key Concepts in Literary Theory presents the student of literary and critical studies with a broad range of accessible, precise and authoritative definitions of the most significant terms and concepts currently used in psychoanalytic, poststructuralist, Marxist, feminist, and postcolonial literary studies.The volume also provides clear and useful discussions of the main areas of literary, critical and cultural theory, supported by bibliographies and an expanded chronology of major thinkers. Accompanying the chronology are short biographies of major works by each critic or theorist.The new edition of this reliable reference work is both revised and expanded, including:* More than 70 additional terms and concepts defined, from Absurdism and Aga Saga to Writerly texts and Zeugma.* Newly defined terms include keywords from the social sciences, cultural studies and psychoanalysis and the addition of a broader selection of classical rhetorical terms.* An expanded chronology, with additional entries and a broader historical and cultural range, from Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel, to Camille Paglia and bell hooks.* Expanded bibliographies including key texts by major critics.