Postcolonial criticism and biblical interpretation / R.S. Sugirtharajah.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sugirtharajah, R. S. (Rasiah S.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible--Hermeneutics.

Bible.

Hermeneutics.

Bible--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Postcolonialism.

Physical Description:

ix, 231 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.

Summary:

This stimulating study explores the implications of postcolonial criticism for biblical studies. Sugirtharajah provides a comprehensive overview of the origins, definitions, and procedures of postcolonial criticism, followed by a discussion of its significance in biblical interpretation. He reveals how postcolonial criticism can offer new perspectives to our understanding of the Bible and of how Western Imperialism has shaped Christianity.

Contents:

Part I Postcolonial Construals

1. Charting the Aftermath: A Review of Postcolonial Criticism 11

The arrival of postcolonial criticism 14

Creative literature 18

The contours of postcolonial criticism 21

Clarification of the lexicon 24

Postcolonialism and biblical studies 25

Empire and theological reflections 26

Postcolonial criticism and cognate disciplines

feminism 28

Global intentions and postcolonial concerns 30

Is the United States postcolonial? 33

Concerns, temptations, conclusions 36

2. Redress, Regeneration, Redemption: A Survey of Biblical Interpretation 43

Dissident readings 44

Resistant readings 52

Heritagist readings 55

Nationalistic readings 63

Liberationist readings 65

Dissentient readings 67

3. Coding and Decoding: Postcolonial Criticism and Biblical Interpretation 74

Orientalist tendencies 75

Decoding texts 79

Jesus and the colonial context 86

Colonial trauma and madness: The case of the Gerasene Demoniac 91

Transcending the text, visualizing the reality 94

Propagandist literature or confessional writings 97

4. Convergent Trajectories? Liberation Hermeneutics and Postcolonial Biblical Criticism 103

Marks of classic liberation hermeneutics 104

Gutierrez's Job 107

Tamez's Paul 110

Liberation hermeneutics and its entanglements 112

Religion and liberation 115

Postcolonialism and liberation hermeneutics as companions in struggle 117

Part II Postcolonial Preoccupations

5. The Version on Which the Sun Never Sets: The English Bible and Its Authorizing Tendencies 127

The context of the English Bible 129

The rise of the English Bible 131

The Englishness of the Bible 134

Simple people and the simplicity of the Scripture: The Geneva Bible 139

A text for the empire: A post-imperial footnote 144

Colonial parallels 145

6. Blotting the Master's Copy: Locating Bible Translations 155

Confusing and confused tongues 156

Dismissing and embracing 161

Translations and their preoccupations 164

A postcolonial gaze at the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 168

Some notes on postcolonial biblical translation 171

7. Hermeneutics in Transit: Diaspora and Interpretation 179

Defining diaspora 180

Postcolonialism and diaspora 183

Uprootings of text and persons: Diaspora and biblical interpretation 185

Diasporic hermeneutics: Some markers 190.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

0198752695

OCLC:

48532577