‘Thanks, but no Thanks’: Tact, Persuasion, and the Negotiation of Power in Paul's Letter to Philemon

Historical reconstructions concerning Philemon consistently illustrate an overwhelming tendency to see Paul as operating with the most innocuous and transparent of motives. In contrast, my (mildly playful) reading of Philemon posits a Paul engaged in power negotiations with his addressee. Though Phi...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Elliott, Scott S. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: 2011
Dans: New Testament studies
Année: 2011, Volume: 57, Numéro: 1, Pages: 51-64
Sujets non-standardisés:B Philemon
B Rhetoric
B Paul
B Slaves
B Patronage
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Description
Résumé:Historical reconstructions concerning Philemon consistently illustrate an overwhelming tendency to see Paul as operating with the most innocuous and transparent of motives. In contrast, my (mildly playful) reading of Philemon posits a Paul engaged in power negotiations with his addressee. Though Philemon acts as Paul's would-be patron, Paul resists the gesture and opts instead to assign Philemon a carefully proscribed role vis-à-vis himself. Paul relies on rhetorical techniques of tact to coerce Philemon to adopt this role ‘voluntarily’. Onesimus emerges, then, as a pawn in a negotiation for power and status in the community.
ISSN:1469-8145
Contient:Enthalten in: New Testament studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0028688510000238