This is the first volume to provide a wide range of postcolonial interpretations of and commentaries upon significant texts in the Hebrew Bible. The volume intersects with the work of the key theorists in postcolonial studies such as Fanon, Senghor, Said and Spivak as well as with scholars such as Sugirtharajah, Kwok Pui-lan, and Segovia who have applied this theory to biblical studies. Texts have been chosen specifically for their relevance to postcolonial discourse, rather than seeking to cover each biblical document. This volume is designed to demonstrate how historical criticism, postmodernism, and the important concerns of postcolonial readings may be integrated to obtain an informed explanation of the Hebrew Bible and the writings of early Judaism. The chapters are written by scholars who represent a spectrum of national, indigenous, and diasporic contexts. Taken together these perspectives and the interpretations they yield represent a continued expansion of the manner in which Old Testament texts are read and interpreted through postcolonial lenses, reminding readers that the interpretive trajectories of these texts are almost inexhaustible. As such the volume serves as not only an addition to ongoing scholarship on postcolonialism but also as an expansion of the horizon for dialogue.
A comprehensive analysis of the New Testament from the perspective of postcolonial criticism, this title enables readers to relate biblical texts more sharply to the perennial geopolitical issues of imperialism and colonialism.
One of the major forces in postcolonialism is the recapturing of tradition and the retelling of history. The replacement of the metanarratives of the imperialist countries requires the return to indigenous traditions and the formulation of national histories and narratives. Postcolonial scholars recognise that western biblical scholars have used western tools to shape the colonial "other." As Edward Said noted, this often has been done to force the Asian peoples into a falsely construed, western myth of the "Orient" and the "Oriental" as seductive, passionate, mysterious, irrational, alluring but dangerous. Postcolonialist scholars seek to dislodge the major metanarratives of the colonizing and neocolonizing West. They engage in a direct confrontation with the system of thought and the values of the West in order to achieve emancipation from all dominant, external structures. Postcolonialists re-read classic texts in order either to find their own place within them or to point to the questionable assumptions that the dominant cultures produce in interpreting these narratives (this includes the Bible). This requires the detection of the prejudices of the world views that produced these interpretations and then the necessity to subvert them. Postcolonialists also construct their own narratives of meanings free of extraneous myths that seek to portray the world in ways that will support the self-interests of those who construct them. This has led to local interpretation of texts that reject the hegemony of western interpretations of the Bible and theology. Thus, postcolonialism will be used to gain insight into these two areas: the social history and worldviews of the cultures of the Bible and the engagement of these with the interests of marginalized peoples who speak largely from the Third World. A Postcolonial Commentary on the Old Testament consists of three parts: Introduction (a survey of seminal postcolonial interpretations in the Old Testament in non-Western and Western Biblical interpretation, and an overview of Israel's move from state to empire to colony); Modes of Postcolonial Discourse that focuses on the major theorists who have shaped this approach to interpreting culture and literature (Fanon, Senghor, Said, Spivak, Bhabha, Sugirtharajah, Kwok Pui-lan, and Fernando Segovia); and Postcolonial Interpretations of Old Testament texts. Thus the volume moves from a survey of the field of Old Testament postcolonial texts, to an examination of leading theorists in postcolonialism, to postcolonial interpretations of significant Old Testament texts. This volume is designed to demonstrate how historical criticism, postmodernism, and the important concerns of postcolonial readings may be integrated to obtain an informed explanation of the Hebrew Bible and the writings of Early Judaism. Old Testament literature will thereby be open to a new understanding through the lens of postcolonialism. Israel and Early Judaism participated in the experiences of colonialism, imperialism, postcolonialism, and even neo-imperialism especially during the Persian and Graeco-Roman periods. Many Jews also migrated into various regions in becoming what are called the communities of the Diaspora. This collection will give specificity to the variety of postcolonial views and insights by providing examples of how this lens provides insight into the nature and meaning of Old Testament texts.
This is the first volume to provide a wide range of postcolonial interpretations of and commentaries upon significant texts in the Hebrew Bible. The volume intersects with the work of the key theorists in postcolonial studies such as Fanon, Senghor, Said and Spivak as well as with scholars such as Sugirtharajah, Kwok Pui-lan, and Segovia who have applied this theory to biblical studies. Texts have been chosen specifically for their relevance to postcolonial discourse, rather than seeking to cover each biblical document. This volume is designed to demonstrate how historical criticism, postmodernism, and the important concerns of postcolonial readings may be integrated to obtain an informed explanation of the Hebrew Bible and the writings of early Judaism. The chapters are written by scholars who represent a spectrum of national, indigenous, and diasporic contexts. Taken together these perspectives and the interpretations they yield represent a continued expansion of the manner in which Old Testament texts are read and interpreted through postcolonial lenses, reminding readers that the interpretive trajectories of these texts are almost inexhaustible. As such the volume serves as not only an addition to ongoing scholarship on postcolonialism but also as an expansion of the horizon for dialogue.
This wide-ranging Reader provides a comprehensive survey of the interaction between postcolonial criticism and biblical studies. Examines how various empires such as the Persian and Roman affected biblical narratives. Demonstrates how different biblical writers such as Paul, Matthew and Mark handled the challenges of empire. Includes examples of the practical application of postcolonial criticism to biblical texts. Considers contemporary issues such as diaspora, race, representation and territory. Editorial commentary draws out the key points to be made and creates a coherent narrative.
This volume returns to where initial interest in postcolonial biblical criticism began: the Hebrew Bible. It does so not to celebrate the significant achievements of postcolonial analysis over the last few decades but to ask what the next step might be. In these essays, established and newer scholars, many from the interstices of global scholarship, discuss specific texts, neo/post/colonial situations, and theoretical issues. Moving from the Caribbean to Greenland, from Ezra-Nehemiah to the Gibeonites, this collection seeks out new territory, new questions, and possibly some new answers. The contributors are Roland Boer, Steed Davidson, Richard Horsley, Uriah Y. Kim, Judith McKinlay, Johnny Miles, Althea Spencer-Miller, Leo Perdue, Christina Petterson, Joerg Rieger, and Gerald West.
Postcolonial biblical criticism took shape, largely, by critiquing the book of Exodus. Because of the eventual dispossession of Canaanites in the conquest narratives, so goes the thinking, the Hebrews’ God amounts to little more than a dangerous, destructive, and ethnocentric figure. In Hyphenating Moses Federico Alfredo Roth challenges this consensus by providing an alternative reading of its early narratives (1:1-3:15). Redeploying postcolonial theory and themes, Roth presents a reading of these well-known scenes as orbiting around the topic of identity formation, climaxing in the burning bush episode. In the giving of the name, YHWH promotes the virtue of conceiving identity as a malleable reality to be sought after by all parties caught in the dehumanizing discourse of colonial subjugation.
This volume on feminist, postcolonial and queer biblical interpretation gathers perspectives from a global body of researchers; in offering innovative interpretations of key texts from the Hebrew Bible, both established and emerging biblical scholars consider the question of how commonplace interpretative practices may be considered to be transgressive in nature. Utilizing innovative strategies, they read against the grain of the text and in support of the marginalized, the subordinated or subaltern others both in the text and in our world today. Important questions regarding power and privilege are constantly raised: whose voices are being heard, and whose interests are being served? Knowing all too well the harm that stereotypical constructions of the Other can do in terms of feeding racism, sexism, homophobia and imperialism in their respective interpretative communities, the essays in this volume interrogate constructions of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and class, both in the text as well as in their respective contexts. By means of these thought-provoking interpretations, the contributors show their commitment not merely the sake of scholarship but to a scholarly ethos, which in some shape or form contributes to the cultivation of more just, equitable societies.
Known for its fresh approaches as well as for its complex theoretical foundations, postcolonial studies is one of the most dynamic contributions to the field of biblical studies today. The present book is a pedagogically structured introduction to this emerging field for both scholar and student.
This volume advances the scholarly discussion of Jeremiah via rigorous feminist and postcolonialist theorizing of texts and interpretive issues in that prophetic book. The essays here, by seasoned scholars of Jeremiah, offer significant traction on the biblical book's construction of the persona of Jeremiah and the subjectivity of Judah as subaltern; analysis of gendered imagery for the speaking subject in Jeremiah and for the Judean social body; exploration of rhetorics of imperialism and resistance; and theological implications of feminist-critical perspectives on YHWH and other deities represented in Jeremiah. Essays here deftly synthesize historical, literary, and ideological-critical insights in service of nuanced inquiry into Jeremiah as complex cultural production. The collection represents the growing edge of recent critical thinking on Jeremiah in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. It should prove invaluable in shaping the parameters of the continuing scholarly conversation on the Book of Jeremiah.
