Abstract:
As far as the relation of sexes is concerned the Song of Songs seems
to create a counter world compared with the world described by
other biblical books and compared with the Song’s assumed
historical sociological background. By focusing on the Song of
Songs’ assumed social setting, and on the Song’s perspective on this
social setting as reflected by its presentation of space, a more
specific understanding of gendered norms is offered. The interaction
between “conceived” and “lived” space (Lefebre) depicts the
Song’s sociological background. Different groups of locations
represent different categories of space. Locations such as the
vineyard and garden are largely metaphorical, while private
locations are, to a higher degree affected by conceived space than
public locations. Song 3:1-5 and 5:1-8 show that places, streets and
squares (public locations) partake in lived space to a relatively high
degree. While locations of fulfilled love, the vineyard and the
garden work as metaphors, locations where the share in lived space
is high, show a patriarchal society that does not generally defer
from other biblical books or Greek literature of the same period,
such as Theocritus’ Idylls. The Song and the Idylls sympathize with
its female protagonist, but criticism of the gendered norms in the
Songs is due to the modern reader’s concepts.
