Die verstaan van die rutnarratief teen sy historiese en literêre agtergrond

Abstract

Meaning emerges during the encounter between a reader and a text. In the process the reader confers meaning to a text. The success of the action depends on the talent, training and sensitivity of the reader. This study is an endeavour to creatively interact with the text of the Ruth narrative by means of an intra-, inter- and extratextual approach to the text. Reading Ruth against it`s historical and literary backdrop with the help of respectively an intra-, inter- and extratextual approach to the text helps the reader to make a creative contribution to the action of conferring meaning in the encounter between the reader and Ruth. An intratextual approach to Ruth gives insight in the relationship and functioning of the different elements of narrative art. This helps the reader to discern the focus of the writer of the narrative and consequently to discern the content and message of the book. An intertextual approach gives insight in the relationship between various phenomena in the text and other comparable texts. In the case of Ruth this analysis helps the reader to establish and appreciate the relationship between the actions of the characters and covenant relationships. An extratextual approach uses extra-biblical texts (in this case Ancient Near Eastern iconographic material) to illuminate the content of the Ruth narrative. It may also give insight in the socio-cultural backdrop of the world within which the Bible came to be and this may lead to a better understanding of the message that the biblical book wants to convey.