Narrative rationality, morality and readers' identification
Taking its point of departure from Toulmin's description of the heritage of modernity, this paper intends to discuss the problem of readers' identification with characters in the Bible that provides them with a model of virtue or an impetus to structure their own lives or the life of their...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2002
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| In: |
Old Testament essays
Year: 2002, Volume: 15, Issue: 1, Pages: 179-199 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Taking its point of departure from Toulmin's description of the heritage of modernity, this paper intends to discuss the problem of readers' identification with characters in the Bible that provides them with a model of virtue or an impetus to structure their own lives or the life of their religious community. Identification boils down to acting as the character once acted in a given situation. But following that act to its consequences can be disastrous, since the readers' context and the context of the character in the story are utterly different. This is the problem with Esther's request to prolong the Jewish defence, thereby causing more bloodshed. A few questions arise: (a) given the epistemological privilege of the Biblical text, can one simply sanction the moral of the story by making it a moral for the readers now? (b) or does the epistemological privilege of the Bible allow readers to overrule the link between the moral of the story and its narrative rationality in turning something else into the moral of the story? The essay elucidates the problem of character identification with the help of Esther 9 in terms of readers' identification with her character. The story is about a powerful woman ending up doing what her adversaries intended to do to her and her people, a dubious act judged from the context of a twenty-first century liberal society with a Bill of Human Rights. Two kinds of readers or readings are discussed, namely that of a critical feminist group within Western European Christianity and that of a simple close reading of African students in the context of Southern Africa. Ensuing from these readings, the degree to which readers are able to identify with Biblical characters and the moral force of identification are addressed. The essay concludes with a discussion on narrative rationality that requests readers to look for moral meaning and not legalistic principles with which society can be ordered. |
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| ISSN: | 2312-3621 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Old Testament essays
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| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10520/EJC85445 |