Womanist Wisdom in the Song of Songs : Secrets of an African Princess

Belonging to Hebrew Wisdom literature, the Song of Songs offers a fresh look at love and relationships through its main female character, the Shulamite, which profoundly differs from traditional religious approaches to love and sexuality. Drawing from exegetical as well as philosophical sources, Abi Doukhan follows the Shulamite’s journey away from patriarchy to her own self-individuation as she discovers a wisdom of love that is deeply personal and feminine. Belonging to Hebrew Wisdom literature, the Song of Songs offers a subversive articulation of love and of relationship through its main female character, the Shulamite, which profoundly differs from traditional religious approaches to love and sexuality. Drawing from exegetical as well as philosophical sources, Abi Doukhan follows the Shulamite's journey away from patriarchy to her own self-individuation as she discovers a wisdom of love is deeply personal and feminine. Doukhan distills from the song an ethics of love relevant to women in the twenty-first century. Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction: The Unconventional Feminine (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 1-14 Virginity Re-imagined (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 15-28 The Art of Seduction (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 29-45 A Room of Her Own (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 47-60 Infidelity’s Dark Night (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 61-73 Secrets of Lovemaking (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 75-88 The Crucible of Grace (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 89-103 Is God a Woman? (Abi Doukhan)....Pages 105-129 Back Matter ....Pages 131-139