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Title: Prototypes and Targumim
Subtitle: Towards a Definition of Targum
Author(s): LITKE, Andrew W.
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 104    Issue: 3   Date: 2023   
Pages: 369-388
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.104.3.3292418

Abstract :
Defining the targumim has been a contentious issue, largely because of the widely different ways that targumists translate the source text, the Hebrew Bible. This paper utilizes advances in cognitive science, namely prototype theory, to describe the genre, categorizing the targumim in the way that the mind naturally categorizes items. The paper proposes five traits of varying levels of importance that work together with the culturally-conditioned setting of the targumim to form a Gestalt in the mind. This allows for certain targumim to be more prototypical and others to be closer to the fuzzy boundaries of the genre.

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