Framing lament: Providing a context for the expression of pain

In this cahpter I suggest that the form-critically identified laments
of the Hebrew Bible can be understood via the performance concept of
"framing." In art, drama, and literature the frame lifts the work or event
to a heightened consciousness and provides a context for practitioners
and audiences to interact. My interest is in the link between frame (form)
and content. 1 argue that the lament form provides a literary framework
for the expression of anguish by empowering those who are suffering
to name their pain, despite the constraints of the form that generally
culminate in a leaning towards hope. Comparison of biblical laments
emanating from the experience of exile with lament poetry written by
exiled Burmese Karen refugees in the twenty-first century will show that
resonances exist between the disparate communities through their common
framing of pain via lament.