Lila between a nomadic and settled life: The stormy metaphors of Ezekiel as a language of transition

• A common theme in the novel Lila and the Hebrew bible is the social, theological, and ethical dynamics of a nomadic vs. settled form of life. In the article, I bring the literary figure and texts of Ezekiel into an encounter with the novel’s protagonist Lila, and demonstrate how her encounter with his strange and often bizarre visions and metaphors enables her to transform her life and finally experience a homecoming. In the conversations of Lila and Ames, biblical quotations play a prominent role. It is argued, that there is a thematic link between the historical and ideological contexts of the biblical quotes and the way they are used in the novel. In the Hebrew bible, as well as in Lila, the chosen texts express the theologies and ethics of the powerful and the dis-empowered, the landowners and the landless, the insider and the outcast.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Religionsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Religious Studies (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Lila

Ezekiel

Bible

quotations

Robinson

Proverbs

outcast

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)