Poetry and Emotion in Psalm 22 (Part 1) (original) (raw)

This study examines how the Hebrew poetry of Psalm 22 expresses the emotions of the psalmist and the potential transformative effort upon the emotions of an engaged reader. Part 1 establishes a working definition of emotion as the perception and evaluation (‘construal’) of a situation or object, grounded in a personal interpretative framework. The manner in which Hebrew poetry may express emotion is then examined in light of how poetic techniques show how the psalmist perceives and evaluates their situation, particularly through sensory language, metaphor, and narrative structure. These techniques combined with the implications of the psalms as songs show how the psalmist’s construal may affect the reader as they are encouraged to experience the situation as the psalmist does, and so ‘feel’ what they feel. A selective exegetical study of the Hebrew text of Psalm 22 will then begin, with particular attention paid to how the text expresses emotion and its potential effect upon an engaged reader. Part 2 will complete the exegetical study and employ it as the basis for wider theological reflection on topics such as the causality of emotions, and especially the importance of ‘performance’ to link authorial expression with effect upon the reader. The engagement of performance allows the reader to perceive the situation and self of the psalmist as it is expressed in the psalm, and so be affected by it.