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Revisiting Judges 19: A Gothic Perspective

Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, 46150, Selangor, Malaysia

This study deploys Gothic scholarship to illuminate one of the more harrowing passages of the Bible—the story of the Levite and his concubine in Judges 19. Reading this passage against familiar Gothic tropes of cannibalism, excess, abjection and mutilation, this study argues that the concubine's victimization, at least as evidenced in the text, is effected to consolidate homosocial ties that have been disrupted when the first father-figure (the concubine's father) fails to preserve his paternal prerogative, thus giving way to the concubine's assertion of agency which intimidates the patriarchal system. As a 'male' gothic tale, such a feminine threat must be overcome, which justifies the text's cruel treatment of her.

Key Words: Gothic • textual burial • travelling woman • cannibalism • homosocial panic • abjection.

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