Lyrics of Lament
Description
In a world torn by division, violence, and deprivation, there are to be found largely forgotten laments, by singers, poets, and musicians across cultural and religious traditions, composers who have helped process suffering, justice, and healing. This volume surveys historic and contemporary examples and practices of lament from around the world, from the Abrahamic faiths, scriptures (Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Qur'an), liturgies, and from popular music.
Offering hope for humanity, constructive lament singers creatively tap into the Transcendent, voice commonly held values, and empower individuals, communities, nations, and the world to move to a higher plain, to places of justice, reconciliation, unity, joy, and peace.
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Person
Nancy C. Lee, Ph.D., teaches at Elmhurst College where she is Professor of Religious Studies/Hebrew Bible; she was Founding Director of the Niebuhr Center and its 'Callings for the Common Good' program. Listed in Who's Who in America, Lee is the author of articles, poetry, and books, including The Singers of Lamentations: Cities under Siege, from Ur to Jerusalem to Sarajevo . . . (Brill, 2002), based on a Fulbright research fellowship comparing biblical Lamentations and laments from the suffering of 1990s wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Founding co-chair of the Lament in Sacred Texts & Cultures group of the Society of Biblical Literature, she co-edited the international scholarly volume, Lamentations in Ancient & Contemporary Contexts (SBL, 2008).