Who is that girl? Gustave Doré (1832-1883) from Wikimedia
Ruth is a lovely story, it’s humour is1 gentle and subtle. Part of the subtlety is that most (though not all) of the signs of humour are missing. However, I think we are intended to smile in at least two ways in the portrayal of the characters.
For this entry in the humour series I am repeating my podcast on chapter 2, where I think several of the signs are present, if subtly:
- incongruity: found I’ll claim in the disparity of cultures between peasant farming Bethlehem and semi-nomadic herding Moab
- lighthearted mood – it’s harvest time and there’s a meal
- surprise – Ruth “happens” on the field of a suitable husband
- ingenuity (cleverness is often a mark of humour think of puns) – if it’s present it is in Ruth’s possible playing with words for servanthood, but that’s too technical for this post
- inferiority – Ruth is a foreign, young, woman; Boaz is a wealthy, older, man
- “inelasticity” (following Bergson) – does Boaz’ slight pomposity count?
- human pretension revealed in all its lack of glory! – not at all present
- hyperbole – not present, except perhaps in the quantity of grain Ruth gleans
The other candidate is the use of direct speech to characterise, and since it is even less overt I’ll just point to the file for those who want to listen: Anyway here’s my candidate for humour in Ruth: Direct speech in biblical narratives
So, here’s the link to the audio: Ruth is from Moab, Boaz is from Bethlehem
- Chapter three is a possible exception – and the humour there, if there is humour, is disguised and sexual, so very difficult to spot with confidence across cultures! [↩]
In this podcast I hope to show you it’s exactly the opposite and that by spending 5 minutes learning about typescenes you can discover a livelyness you may have missed, even in a well-loved story like Ruth. (Other passage you should have ready, or look at before listening are: Genesis 24; 29 & Exodus 2:15ff..)
