Queer Fish: Following the Great Transgender Fish in the Book of Jonah
In: Biblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Lily Carayannis in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper builds both on Raymond Person’s “The Role of Non-Human Characters in Jonah” where he argues that the book of Jonah is a satire of an anthropocentric worldview and on the work of transecological notions of enmeshment. The great fish stands at the center of the text and Jonah’s transformation, but the fish itself is transformed, starting the journey as a male fish and later becoming a female fish. Queer bodies and animal bodies are often mere metaphors in literature, examples of their andro-anthropo counterparts who are the subjects of the story. By taking the fish’s transition seriously, the fish’s queer body becomes the center of the satire and cannot be dissolved as merely a device for teaching Jonah a lesson. The fish is everything that Jonah is not: a transgender or gender fluid being with a nurturing nature and a fierce obedience to God.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 938 | 234 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 123 | 28 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 310 | 65 | 0 |
Queer Fish: Following the Great Transgender Fish in the Book of Jonah
In: Biblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Lily Carayannis in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This paper builds both on Raymond Person’s “The Role of Non-Human Characters in Jonah” where he argues that the book of Jonah is a satire of an anthropocentric worldview and on the work of transecological notions of enmeshment. The great fish stands at the center of the text and Jonah’s transformation, but the fish itself is transformed, starting the journey as a male fish and later becoming a female fish. Queer bodies and animal bodies are often mere metaphors in literature, examples of their andro-anthropo counterparts who are the subjects of the story. By taking the fish’s transition seriously, the fish’s queer body becomes the center of the satire and cannot be dissolved as merely a device for teaching Jonah a lesson. The fish is everything that Jonah is not: a transgender or gender fluid being with a nurturing nature and a fierce obedience to God.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 938 | 234 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 123 | 28 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 310 | 65 | 0 |
