Publications [#292940] of Laura S. Lieber

Papers Published

1. Lieber, LS. "The rhetoric of participation: Experiential elements of early hebrew liturgical poetry." Journal of Religion 90:2 (April, 2010): 119-147. [Gateway.cgi], [doi]

   Abstract:
   This essay examines early Hebrew liturgical poetry (piyyut) as prayer texts, from the perspective of participation and experience. Two basic modes of participation are considered here: formal, represented by an analysis of the use of refrains; and rhetorical, where the listeners are drawn in to the experience when the poet collapses horizontal (historical) and vertical (heaven-earth) axes. While the examples come from the poetry of Yannai (6th century Galilee), the approach can apply more generally to Hebrew piyyut and it shows how piyyut can participate in the current discussions about ritual and performance in early Christian hymnography.