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A Material Ecocritical Exploration of Gen. 2:4B–3:24 in the Green Bible

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A Material Ecocritical Exploration of Gen. 2:4B–3:24 in the Green Bible Trees and Text: A Material Ecocritical Exploration of Gen. 2:4b–3:24 in The Green Bible Robin Hamon Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctorate in Philosophy Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies and Department of Philosophy The University of Sheffield November 2018 Abstract In this study, I employ material ecocritical theory to explore both the depiction of trees in Gen. 2:4b–3:24 in the specific text of the Green Bible, and the Green Bible itself as a ‘material-discursive’ object. These two analytical approaches represent two modes of enquiry that are unique to material ecocritical discourse: ‘matter in text’ and ‘matter as text’, respectively. Trees are therefore at the centre of this study. Narrated trees are the focus of my textual analysis of Gen. 2:4b–3:24 and real-world trees are the primary natural material from which the text of the Green Bible is produced out of a complex assemblage of forestry, manufacturing, publication, distribution, marketing, and interpretation. I establish that Bennett’s model of distributive agency is compatible with material ecocritical theory and I employ this model in my methodology. I explore the ‘material-botanical’ features of the trees in Gen. 2:4b–3:24 and the numerous agencies exhibited by these trees. This analysis highlights the extent to which the trees of Gen. 2:4b–3:24 have been overlooked in ecological, narrative-critical, and theological readings of the passage, and allows me to propose a unique solution to why eating from the tree of life is not prohibited by Yhwh. I explore the materiality of Gen. 2:4b–3:24 as it is presented in the Green Bible and the materiality of the volume as a whole. I find the use of green text throughout the Green Bible inconsistent and that the environmentalist ideology of the volume relies heavily upon an anachronistic stewardship interpretation of Gen. 2:15. Ultimately, my analysis reveals that the explicit environmentalist agenda of the Green Bible is undermined by the ambiguous environmental and socio-cultural impacts associated with its production and interpretation. Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introducing the study .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Aims .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Introducing material ecocriticism ................................................................................ 6 1.3.1 Tracing the development of ecocriticism ............................................................. 7 1.3.1.1 1978-1988 The emergence of ecocriticism .................................................... 8 1.3.1.2 1989-1995 Establishing ecocriticism as an academic field ............................ 8 1.3.1.3 1996-2000 The Ecocriticism Reader and UK Green Studies ....................... 12 1.3.1.4 2001-2010 Geographical expansion and critical diversification .................... 15 1.3.1.5 2011 to present: the emergence of material ecocriticism ............................. 18 1.3.1.6 Summary .................................................................................................... 20 1.3.2 Outlining new materialist theory ........................................................................ 21 1.3.2.1 (1) Non-human agency ............................................................................... 23 1.3.2.2 (2) Interconnection...................................................................................... 25 1.3.2.3 (3) Scale..................................................................................................... 26 1.3.3 The foundations of material ecocritical theory ................................................... 27 1.4 Introducing the Green Bible ...................................................................................... 34 1.5 Gen. 2:4b–3:24 in the Green Bible and material ecocriticism: my rationale ............... 36 1.6 Summary ................................................................................................................. 39 2. Literature Review .................................................................................................. 40 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 40 2.2 Analyses of Gen. 2:4b–3:24 in ecocritical scholarship............................................... 40 2.2.1 Lynn White Jr, ‘The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis’ .............................. 42 2.2.2 Paula Gunn Allen, ‘The Sacred Hoop’ ............................................................... 45 2.2.3 Greg Garrard, Ecocriticism ............................................................................... 49 2.2.4 Summary: Laurence Coupe, ‘Genesis and the Nature of Myth’ .......................... 50 2.3 Ecological readings of Gen. 2:4b–3:24 in biblical scholarship ................................... 52 2.3.1 Arthur Walker-Jones, ‘Eden for Cyborgs’ .......................................................... 57 2.3.2 R. B. Hamon, ‘Garden and “Wilderness”’ .......................................................... 58 2.3.3 Carol Newsom, ‘Common Ground’ ................................................................... 59 2.3.4 Mark G. Brett, ‘Earthing the Human in Genesis 1–3’ ......................................... 61 2.3.5 Norman C. Habel, The Birth, the Curse and the Greening of Earth ................... 63 2.3.6 Summary ......................................................................................................... 64 2.4 Analyses of the trees in Gen. 2:4b–3:24 in biblical scholarship ................................. 64 2.4.1 Terje Stordalen, Echoes of Eden ...................................................................... 66 2.4.2 Tryggve N. D. Mettinger, The Eden Narrative ................................................... 69 2.4.3 Ziony Zevit, What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden?............................. 71 2.4.4 Summary ......................................................................................................... 73 2.5 Examining biblical textual materiality in an ecological context ................................... 74 2.5.1 Carol Adams, Neither Man nor Beast ............................................................... 74 2.5.2 Rachel Muers, ‘The Animals We Write On’ ....................................................... 76 2.5.3 Anne Elvey, ‘A Material Intertextuality’ .............................................................. 77 2.5.4 Summary ......................................................................................................... 81 2.6 Academic studies and reviews of the Green Bible .................................................... 82 2.6.1 Norman Habel, ‘When Earth Reads The Green Bible’....................................... 82 2.6.2 David Horrell, ‘The Green Bible: A Timely Idea Deeply Flawed’ ........................ 83 2.6.3 Ruth Rosell, ‘The Green Bible: New Revised Standard Version’ ....................... 84 2.6.4 Joseph Hong, ‘The Green Bible: A Model For the Asian Context?’ .................... 85 2.6.5 Stephen Pattemore, ‘Green Bibles, Justice, and Translation’ ............................ 86 2.6.6 Dennis Frohlich, ‘Let There Be Highlights’ ........................................................ 87 2.6.7 Summary ......................................................................................................... 89 2.7 Literature Review Summary ..................................................................................... 89 3. Methodology .......................................................................................................... 93 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 93 3.2 ‘Matter in text’: analysing the trees of Gen. 2:4b–3:24 .............................................. 95 3.2.1 (1) Selecting the object of analysis ................................................................... 98 3.2.2 (2) Collecting data from the text ...................................................................... 101 3.2.3 (3) Collecting data from alternative versions of the text ................................... 107 3.2.4 (4) Collecting data from parallel texts .............................................................. 114 3.2.5 (5) Consolidating and presenting data ............................................................. 115 3.3 Applying non-human agency to material ecocritical methodology ........................... 116 3.3.1 The mangle .................................................................................................... 120 3.3.2 Intra-action ..................................................................................................... 121 3.3.3 Actor-Network Theory ..................................................................................... 123 3.3.4 Distributive agency ......................................................................................... 124 3.3.5 Summary ........................................................................................................ 126 3.4 ‘Matter as text’: analysing the Green Bible as a material-discursive object .............. 127 3.4.1 (1) Selecting the object of analysis .................................................................
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