A Haven of Peace: Justice and Hesed in the Book of Ruth and its Retellings in Spanish Drama, European Visual Arts, and Latin American Poetry
Abstract
This thesis addresses the hesed-based model of justice that shapes interpersonal relationships in the book of Ruth and in a selection of dramatic, visual, and poetic biblical retellings by Tirso de Molina, Nicolas Poussin, Marc Chagall, and Gabriela Mistral. Within an intertextual and intermedial frame that includes theoretical formulations by Kristeva, Barthes, Genette, and Brooks, I examine why the model of justice enshrined in the book of Ruth motivates renewed consideration across the cultural contexts of Spanish drama, European visual arts, and Latin American poetry. The study suggests that the variety of genres –tragedy, idyll, seduction tale, legal drama– and contrasts –relative to social class, migratory status, and gender– of the biblical story facilitate a continued process of revitalization of its hesed-based model of justice. I characterize the story of Ruth in all its iterations as a haven of peace that resonates with its placement in the Christian canon. As a result, the book of Ruth stands out as an ideal oasis of civility in the turbulent sociopolitical and ethical context of the Bible. Finally, I argue that the dynamic reception of this biblical story reveals a perennial human desire for a practice of justice in which kindness and care for the other transcend legal obligation or revenge and create a network of ethical responsibilities.