'Who has the moral right to speak?' A reflection on a discourse within Old Testament studies
This article responds to an essay by Dr Madipoane Masenya in the Bulletin of Old Testament Studies in Africa (12, 2002) in which she questioned the participation of white academics in an African context. In working out the problem she appears to have with 'Western' culture, the article sit...
| 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: 3, Pages: 799-820 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article responds to an essay by Dr Madipoane Masenya in the Bulletin of Old Testament Studies in Africa (12, 2002) in which she questioned the participation of white academics in an African context. In working out the problem she appears to have with 'Western' culture, the article situates her concept of 'normative humanity' within the former colonial framework, acutely illustrated by the recent return of Sarah Baartmann. The author explains the process those previously privileged by Apartheid are now going through in order to come to terms with the reality of a post-Apartheid South Africa. In order to prevent a mirroring of the previous system of racialisation, the author proposes overcoming the binary opposition of 'Western' and 'African', of 'black' and 'white' or 'us' and 'them' by breaking down objectivism and essentialism. He proposes an interactional philosophy of language : language constructs reality, so that identity becomes a construct which can change instead of remaining inherent to one's being, as is the case within objectivistic racialisation. In this process he endeavours to take seriously the social-cultural role of the 'white male' academic as 'perpetrator' enforced on him. |
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| ISSN: | 2312-3621 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Old Testament essays
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| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10520/EJC85496 |