@article {3008,
	title = {  Celluloid Esther: The Literary Carnivalesque as Transformed Through the Lens of the Cinematic Epic},
	journal = {Journal of the Bible and its Reception },
	volume = {4},
	year = {2017},
	pages = {91-123},
	abstract = {The reception of Esther has often been fraught with attempts to make\&nbsp;the book more palatable to the audience receiving it and to interpret the book in\&nbsp;a manner more consistent with the values of that community. This is evidence in\&nbsp;cinematic adaptations of the book, where the story is transformed to better suit\&nbsp;the genre expectations of the Biblical epic and the perspectives of the intended\&nbsp;viewers. By examining two films based on Esther {\textendash} Esther and the King (1960) and\&nbsp;One Night with the King (2006) {\textendash} some of the interpretive issues surrounding the\&nbsp;tone and content of the Biblical source become apparent. If Esther is best understood\&nbsp;as a carnivalesque work, as many scholars have suggested, then the expectations\&nbsp;of this kind of work have not been met in the cinematic adaptations. Given\&nbsp;the importance of film in contemporary Biblical reception, these new readings of\&nbsp;Esther are perhaps particularly influential, at least within the restricted communities\&nbsp;who view these movies. Likewise, analysis of these changes highlights the\&nbsp;values of the makers of these films and the audiences who consume them.},
	url = {https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jbr.2017.4.issue-1/issue-files/jbr.2017.4.issue-1.xml}
}
