This volume briefly introduces readers to the various critical communication theories currently being used by scholars in a number of fields --- anthropology, communication, sociology, psychology, and literary studies.
Using these methods as a guide, Victor H. Matthews show readers how to effectively step into the world of ancient Israelite conversations embedded into biblical narratives. By crossing disciplinary divides, Mathews leaves the reader figuratively standing in the background for the conversations, analyzing how they are a reflecting of the personal status, age, gender, economic standing , and political position of the participants. Matthews goes further than simply analyzing the words of conversation, however. He also considers the historical contest, the implied audience, social and legal barriers, and much more to give the fullest picture to the written text.
With More than Meets the Ear, Matthews creates a working synthesis that brings these embedded dialogues off the page and breathes life into the social world that created them.
