Reclaiming Gender Rights: A Greimassian Analysis of a Biblical Narrative

Abstract

Gender studies actualise gender equality and equity using varied methods of textual analysis amongst which are transgressing, deconstructing, re-constructing, recovering, reclaiming and multi-modal approaches that are commonplace in feminism, gender and sexuality studies, etc. While there are many gender readings of narratives, not many gender studies have explored how gender plays out in biblical narratives. To fill this gap, this study analysed a biblical narrative on the female heirship of Zelophehad’s daughters using an adapted version of the Greimassian model of narrative analysis. The analysis revealed some intricacies in the strategies employed by the daughters (subjects) to achieve their goal (object) and subsequently revealed how gender equality and equity can be reclaimed through transgression, negotiation, and appeal. These findings attest to the usefulness of a multi-modal approach to analysis in gender studies. In addition, the study shows the applicability of the Greimassian model to narrative analysis and thus contributes towards gender biblical narrative studies.