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A review by leswag97
Reading Images, Seeing Texts: Towards a Visual Hermeneutics for Biblical Studies by Ryan P. Bonfiglio
4.0
This book is excellent, and it is a must-read for scholars and students in the field of biblical studies—and not only for those that are already inclined to use ancient art and imagery to inform biblical exegesis or that are already interested in such an approach. Those scholars more skeptical about an "iconographic" approach to biblical studies would do well to pick it up and give it a fair reading. Ryan Bonfiglio argues coherently and sensibly for the necessity of using ANE art and iconography in the study of the Hebrew Bible (see especially ch. 2). While this book is "heavy" on theory, Bonfiglio does a good job of not simply theorizing for the sake of theorizing or of engaging in theoretical reflection simply "to problematize and/or deconstruct past approaches" (15). Instead, Bonfiglio actively applies the theories he discusses and reflects upon, showing (as he goes) the usefulness of visual theory and visual cultural studies for the field of biblical studies, and I found this extremely helpful.
There are a host of excellent insights in this work, and I’m sure I’ll return to it many times in the future. One insight that I found especially helpful is one that Bonfiglio makes in his second chapter. In his discussion of low literacy rates in the ancient world (probably only 10–15% of "the general population would have possessed the ability to read or write with any degree of sophistication" [321]), Bonfiglio stresses the importance of not only texts, but also images for communication and meaning making in the ANE. Bonfiglio notes that "while ancient Israel certainly had its share of readers and writers, reading and writings texts represented only one mechanism, and perhaps a sparsely used one, for communicating ideas and transmitting cultural knowledge" (36–37). Obviously, this need not lead one to abandon the traditional comparative method (which usually compares texts with other texts), but rather to broaden the comparative data to include images as well (and maybe even more, considering the ancient world’s low literacy rates). For this valuable insight alone I am thankful I decided to read this important book.
I easily could have rated this book 5 stars, but I decided to give it 4 simply because of the limited audience that I think would enjoy and benefit from reading it. That being said, though, I highly recommend it to those working with the Hebrew Bible.
There are a host of excellent insights in this work, and I’m sure I’ll return to it many times in the future. One insight that I found especially helpful is one that Bonfiglio makes in his second chapter. In his discussion of low literacy rates in the ancient world (probably only 10–15% of "the general population would have possessed the ability to read or write with any degree of sophistication" [321]), Bonfiglio stresses the importance of not only texts, but also images for communication and meaning making in the ANE. Bonfiglio notes that "while ancient Israel certainly had its share of readers and writers, reading and writings texts represented only one mechanism, and perhaps a sparsely used one, for communicating ideas and transmitting cultural knowledge" (36–37). Obviously, this need not lead one to abandon the traditional comparative method (which usually compares texts with other texts), but rather to broaden the comparative data to include images as well (and maybe even more, considering the ancient world’s low literacy rates). For this valuable insight alone I am thankful I decided to read this important book.
I easily could have rated this book 5 stars, but I decided to give it 4 simply because of the limited audience that I think would enjoy and benefit from reading it. That being said, though, I highly recommend it to those working with the Hebrew Bible.