Stories of the Law: Narrative Discourse and the Construction of Authority in the Mishnah

Stories of the Law deals with the question of the relationship between law and narrative in the Mishna, the early century rabbinic legal text. It argues that despite the limited number of stories in the Mishnah, "narrative" and "narrativity" are central categories not only regarding the Mishnna's characteristics as a literary document but also for understanding the legal theory that underlies the Mishnah. Through the close reading of numerous mishnaic stories, the author demonstrates that stories are crucial to the Mishnah's efforts to construct the rabbis as the sole legitimate source of legal authority in Judaism. At the same time, these stories consistently critique the notion of rabbinic authority, ultimately presenting a complex and nuanced portrayal of the rabbis as religious leaders. In addition to its contributions to the study of rabbinic literature, the book presents new theoretical frameworks both understanding the relationship between law and narrative and for describing and evaluating narrative discourse as it interacts with other form of language and expression, a central issue in narrative theory.