Biblical Perspectives, Vol. 23 No. 1-2, 2015.
Original scientific paper
Performance Criticism: An Emerging Methodology in Second Testament Studies-Part II
David M. Rhoads
; Lutheran School of Th eology at Chicago
Abstract
In Part 1 of this article, I sought to depict performance criticism as an emerging discipline in Second Testament studies. I explained how the fi rst-century Mediterranean area comprised predominantly oral cultures, that writing pri marily served orality, that performances were central to early Christian communities, and that the Second Testament
writings were basically “remnants” of oral performances. I proposed an outline of the key features of the performance event in an eff ort to encourage us to interpret Second Testament writings in the context of such performance scenarios. Part 2 comprises two sections. In the fi rst section, I want to lay out the eclectic nature of performance criticism and identify the contributions of many potential partners in the enterprise. Th ese partners include traditional methodolo gies, recent methodologies, and new approaches to biblical studies related to performance. In the second section, I will lay out the insights
and benefi ts that come from my personal experience of performing biblical materials and of incorporating these experiences into the methods of interpretation that comprise performance criticism. My hope is that performance criticism may not only add to the tools of research in the fi eld but also that the paradigmatic shift in medium from written to oral may bring changes in the way Second Testament disciplines in general pursue their subject matter.
Keywords
biblical text; performance criticism; oral tradition; hermeneutics; exegesis; second testament
Hrčak ID:
140789
URI
Publication date:
16.6.2015.
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