Blumenthal finds technology
fits nicely with tradition
David Blumenthal has found a way to capture the imagination of students,
scholars and online buffs who visit his award-winning web site. While on
sabbatical last year, the Cohen Professor of Judaic Studies began creating
a site that adapts a centuries-old tradition of studying religious texts
into a new form ideally suited to the web. Its major feature is the creative
use of hypertext linking, in which more than one text is "present"
to the reader at any one time.
"The idea of putting multiple commentaries on a page is an old,
old tradition both in Judaism and in Christianity," said Blumenthal.
The advantage of this intellectual approach is "that more than one
voice can be seen or heard at once; indeed, contradictory voices can fight
for attention," he said.
Blumenthal first experimented with the multitext sources and voices in
his 1993 book, Facing the Abusing God. The second half of the book
contains the main text in the middle of the page with commentaries in different
voices surrounding it. Having different texts from multiple voices on the
same page was a difficult printing problem, said Blumenthal. Even using
sophisticated page layout programs, the book still required special typesetting
by a firm in Colorado.
Then Blumethal discovered hypertext. After writing an article called
"Reading Creation" that contained nine voices, he realized he
had "exceeded the capacity of my word processing program" and
decided to give hypertext a try. When he began working on "Meditations
on the Ashrei (Psalm 145)," Blumenthal realized he needed embedded
cartoons to demonstrate mystical techniques and hypertext to present "all
the commentaries that clamored for attention when studying the psalm in
its liturgical context."
Inspired by the success of these efforts, he created two articles specifically
for the web, "Reading Genesis" and "Praying Ashrei (Meditations
on Psalm 145)," each of which are commentaries containing as many as
five or six layers of intertexting grouped around a central text.
Blumenthal says the site has become a great teaching resource, that he
gets messages from people across the country praising its content and usefulness.
He has put a precis of his next book on the web, is encouraging students
to write "multivocal" texts and is planning to create space on
the web for student work. Next fall he plans to include a session on writing
in hypertext and using Internet resources in his master's level Judaic studies
methodology course.
Blumenthal can be reached at <reldrb@emory. edu> or by phone at
404-727-7545. His site address is http://www.emory.edu/UDR/BLUMENTHAL/index.html.
-Elaine Justice
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