This paper interrogates the Tobiad narrative from a postcolonial perspective. According to the narrative, the Tobiad family lived in the transitional period from the Ptolemaic rule to the Seleucid. The Tobiad narrative reveals how a native informant family lived out in the colonial period. This paper attempts to show that this narrative is interesting in two aspects. One is the displacement of the concept of the territorial boundary. The traditionally cursed land of Ammon emerged as a refuge and a new location of power. The division between Jerusalem and Ammon seems to have at least temporally disrupted at this colonial moment. Second is colonial identity presented by the Tobiad family"s social actions related to the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kings and to the neighboring city-states. The Tobiads mimicked and mocked the Ptolemaic rulers. They behaved "almost the same but not quite" as the colonizers. On the other hand, though the Ptolemaic king appeared as generous and benevolent in the Tobiad narrative, he was easily persuaded and controlled by the witty Jews. By the Tobiads" social actions, Josephus reveals what colonial identity the Jewish society in that period thought as ideal. The ambivalent colonial identity emerges clearly. The traditional Jewish identity based on law and covenant seems to have given a priority to political and economic interests. Yet the racial and ethnic identity related to marriage law did not dismiss in a colonial situation.
This paper interrogates the Tobiad narrative from a postcolonial perspective. According to the narrative, the Tobiad family lived in the transitional period from the Ptolemaic rule to the Seleucid. The Tobiad narrative reveals how a native informant family lived out in the colonial period. This paper attempts to show that this narrative is interesting in two aspects. One is the displacement of the concept of the territorial boundary. The traditionally cursed land of Ammon emerged as a refuge and a new location of power. The division between Jerusalem and Ammon seems to have at least temporally disrupted at this colonial moment. Second is colonial identity presented by the Tobiad family"s social actions related to the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kings and to the neighboring city-states. The Tobiads mimicked and mocked the Ptolemaic rulers. They behaved "almost the same but not quite" as the colonizers. On the other hand, though the Ptolemaic king appeared as generous and benevolent in the Tobiad narrative, he was easily persuaded and controlled by the witty Jews. By the Tobiads" social actions, Josephus reveals what colonial identity the Jewish society in that period thought as ideal. The ambivalent colonial identity emerges clearly. The traditional Jewish identity based on law and covenant seems to have given a priority to political and economic interests. Yet the racial and ethnic identity related to marriage law did not dismiss in a colonial situation.
(0)
(0)