Reading the Latter Prophets: Toward a New Canonical Criticism

This book grows out of and builds on my previous studies on reading prophetic books in two ways. First, it extends my reader response and inter- textual approach to prophetic books by drawing on the semiotic theory of Umberto Eco, especially as that relates to his ideas concerning the limits of interpretation. While I agree with the recent redactional critical goal to interpret prophetic books as literary wholes, it is not my aim to build on these studies. Rather, as in my previous work, my perspective is synchronic rather than diachronic.
Second, this study is also different from my previous work in its focus on reading the prophetic corpus rather than focusing on a single prophetic book. One aspect of my study is attention to the significance and implications of the order and arrangement of prophetic books for reading. However, my interest in order assumes the existence of different canons with different implications for reading. Although I select a particular canonical order as a basis for my reading, I do not assume the authority of any particular one.