Agnon's Biblical Ethnographies: Edo and Enam and the Quest for the Ultimate Song / האתנוגרפיות המקראיות של עגנון: 'עידו ועינם' והחיפוש אחר השיר האולטימטיבי

My reading of 'Edo and Enam' explores Agnon's response to the intriguingly complex history of the reception of the Song of Songs in Israeli culture. More specifically, I read 'Edo and Enam' in relation to a plethora of ethnographic studies of the Song, primarily those of S. D. Goitein. Although biblical ethnographers were eager to shape a new literal Song, their quest for literalism and for an authentic, biblical culture, Agnon intimates, does not quite lead to terra firma. With characteristic virtuosity, Agnon juxtaposes old allegories with new Zionist allegories, flaunting both their charms and absurdities, mocking normative distinctions between the sacred and the secular.