BIBFRAME Work

Title

Gender, genocide, Gaza and the Book of Esther

Type

  • Text
  • Monograph

Contribution

Subject

Language

Classification

Content

Supplementary content

Summary

"Gender, Genocide, Gaza and the Book of Esther: Engaging Texts of Terror(ism) bridges the gap between gendered and geopolitical analyses by interrogating both the sexual and ethnic violence embedded in the Book of Esther. While much scholarship has examined the potential genocide of the Jews in the narrative, far less attention has been paid to the Persian "retaliation genocide." Framed within decolonial feminist perspectives, this book shifts between the harem-the royal institution where women were sequestered for the king's use-and herem, the practice of divinely sanctioned warfare that justifies the extermination of an enemy. Rather than operating as discrete forms of violence, the book argues that the harem and the herem are co-constitutive, revealing how gendered and ethnic domination function in tandem. Through a combination of narrative inquiry, inter-textual readings, critical discourse analysis, and theological assessments of both the biblical text and its contemporary reception, Gender, Genocide, Gaza and the Book of Esther invites interpreters to consider the larger frameworks of ethnicity and racialization within which hermeneutics of sexual violence take place. A close literary reading of Esther is paired with an analysis of its contemporary geopolitical appropriations, particularly its use in Christian Zionist rhetoric. The explicit invocation of the Amalekite extermination trope by Israel's prime minister in October 2023 to justify attacks on Gaza, underscores the enduring political afterlives of texts of terror. This book contends that a feminist reading of Esther cannot limit itself to the analysis of sexual violence but must extend its critique intersectionally, engaging with the broader necropolitical economies that structure both ancient and modern deployments of biblical violence"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

The journey from texts of terror to (con)texts of terrorism -- Sacred economies of violence and interpretive communities -- Vashti : patriarchy, politics and power -- 'Like a virgin' : invisibilised, invalidated, and erased -- Esther and Mordecai : 'pretty privilege' and power-gendered theological necropolitics -- Esther and Haman : the Amalekite trope-blurring boundaries of self-defence and aggression.

Authorized Access Point

Nadar, Sarojini. Gender, genocide, Gaza and the Book of Esther

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11T20:20:08.285735+00:00
  • Agent: cbc
  • Status: c
  • Derived from: 24050932

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11
  • Cataloger id: Unknown
  • Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
  • Description language: eng
  • Description authentication: pcc

Alternative Formats

Blue Core Actions

  • Load to Marva Marva loads Instances, not Works. Open one of this Work's Instances and load that into Marva instead.
  • Load to Sinopia
  • Export to Catalog Only Instances can be exported. Open one of this Work's Instances and export that instead.