Performativity, Mediacy, and Authorship in "Yitbarach" Homilies from the Cairo Genizah Cairo Genizah

Abstract

“Yitbarach” is an almost unnoticed genre of homilies, comprised of a unique opening formula, including theological arguments and praises of God supported by proof-texts. Some “Yitbarach” homilies made their way into the known midrashic corpus, but a larger portion of the corpus is identified thanks to a survey of texts from the Cairo Genizah. A mapping of various modes of performativity in the homilies enables to distinguish between the meta-textual markers of performativity, implied and explicit performative utterances, and to note the use of common stylistic forms which alternate between those implied and explicit modes of performativity. This analysis reveals a key discursive shift from classical midrashic literature to the presumably later “Yitbarach” homilies, reflecting the rise of a unified mediating voice of an implied homilist. This rise of mediacy may be considered an important stage in the move from collective to individual authorship in the Jewish literary poly-system.