THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN GILGAMESH EPIC

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INTRODUCTION

When I started working on this thesis in 2000, I wished to take an Akkadian text as my point of departure, not an English or any other translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The only Akkadian text I had at my disposal was that of Simo Parpola (1997) which consists of the cuneiform signs as well as their transliteration. My own translation of the Epic is based on this rendering. Towards the end of my research work, Andrew Georgeís edition of The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic, volumes I and II appeared in 2003 ñ last year.

MOTIVATION FOR RESEARCH

Recently there seems to be a renewed interest in the ancient world and its civilizations. Documentary programmes on television feature Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Israel, ancient civilizations of the Far East, Mexico, and also of Mesopotamia. All these civilizations had stories: some are lost forever, some left their remains in the form of artifacts. With the help of archaeology some stories can be re-told, albeit only partly.

RESEARCH PROBLEM

At least two aspects of the Gilgamesh Epic have to be investigated: the context and the text, or in other words, the sources and the discourse. It is necessary to research these two areas for a more comprehensive understanding of the Epic as a whole, since there are many gaps in scientific work due to the one-sided nature of present studies.

HYPOTHESIS

The hermeneutical dimensions of the Epic of Gilgamesh will benefit by a thorough examination of its (i) extra-textual sources and reception, as well as its (ii) internal textual narrative discourse.

CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION
1. Motivation for research
2. Research problem
3. Hypothesis
4. Purpose for research
5. Methodology
5.1. Source-orientated inquiry
5.2. Discourse-orientated analysis
5.2.1. Epic: poetry or prose?
6. Premises
7. Contents
CHAPTER 2 : THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN GILGAMESH EPIC
1. The narrative
CHAPTER 3 : THE SOURCE HISTORY OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH
1. The Sumerian past
1.1. General background
1.2. Cities
1.3. Animals
1.4. Kings
1.5. Theology
2. Sumerian literature: the five poems on Bilgames
2.1. Obscure origins: did the king really exist?
2.2. The poems
2.3. The function of the Sumerian poems
3. From frivolous frolic to academic achievement:
entertainment to literature
3.1. Writing
3.2. From Sumerian to Akkadian
3.3. The Sumerian Renaissance
3.4. The end of Ur III and the Isin-Larsa period
3.5 Babylon
3.5.1. Akkadian supreme
3.5.2. The Old Babilonian world
3.5.3 The Old Babilonian Gilgamesh Epic
4. The Middle Babylonian period
4.1. The Middle Babylonian Gilgamesh
5. The genius
5.1. The changes
5.2. The puzzle of Tablet VI
5.3. The puzzle of Tablet XII
6. The place of the Gilgamesh Epic in academic circles
CHAPTER 4 : LITERARY THEORIES – STRUCTURALISM
1. Why is a theory necessary?
2. Continental structuralism
2.1. Ferdinand de Saussure
2.2. Russian Formalism
2.3. Prague Semiotics
2.4. Narratology
3. A choice for GÈrard Genette’s model
CHAPTER 5 : A NARRATOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BABYLONIAN GILGAMESH EPIC ACCORDING TO THE THEORY OF GENETTE (1980
1. Narrative, story, narrating
2. Analysis of narrative discourse: tense, mood, and voice
2.1. Tense
2.1.1. Order
2.1.2. Duration
2.1.3. Frequency
2.2. Mood
2.2.1. Distance
2.2.2. Focalisation
2.3. Voice
2.3.1. Time of narrating
2.3.2. Narrative levels
2.3.3. Person
3. Discussion in terms of Genetteís model
CHAPTER 6: MOVEMENT TOWARD READER-ORIENTATED THEORIES
1. Critique on the structural approach
2. Reader-orientated theories
2.1. A choice for the theory of Hans Robert Jauss
CHAPTER 7 : THE GILGAMESH EPIC AND JAUSSíS THEORY
1. Sumerian origins
2. The Ur III period
3. The time had come to pass
4. SÓn-lēqi-unninni
5. Gilgamesh in post-cuneiform tradition
6. Modern reception
7. Other genres, other forms of art
8. Critique on response-orientated theories
CHAPTER 8 : CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

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