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15 pages, 370 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Jeanette Mathews

Religions 2023, 14(10), 1269; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101269 - 7 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1269

All biblical scholars are committed to the interpretation of ancient written texts, but Biblical Performance Criticism (BPC) reminds interpreters that performance helps us better understand Scripture. A distinct difference between Narrative Criticism and Performance Criticism is the broader application of Performance Criticism to [...] Read more.

All biblical scholars are committed to the interpretation of ancient written texts, but Biblical Performance Criticism (BPC) reminds interpreters that performance helps us better understand Scripture. A distinct difference between Narrative Criticism and Performance Criticism is the broader application of Performance Criticism to poetic and prose texts that are not grounded in narrative. The ambiguity of prose and poetry that does not readily identify speakers is open to a range of performative interpretations. Furthermore, audiences are necessary for performance and contribute to meaning-making. The embodied experience of performers and audience alike contribute to the interpretation of biblical texts. This article reflects on a performance of Ecclesiastes translated as a script of a television talk show, claiming that embodying and performing Scripture is itself a method for interpretation. Through the performance of Scripture, we are reminded that interpretation is shared and dynamic within the community of faith. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

15 pages, 267 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Singing to “Lord Jesus Christ”: A Prose Hymn and Its Philippian Recipients

by William Shiell

Religions 2023, 14(10), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101228 - 25 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1551

Abstract

Religious audiences frequently hear prose hymns as a part of their ceremonies. The “Lord Jesus Christ” hymn in Philippians 2.6–11 is one such example. The Philippian hymn fits an audience’s performance expectations compared to other Greek and Jewish prose hymns and performances. A [...] Read more.

Religious audiences frequently hear prose hymns as a part of their ceremonies. The “Lord Jesus Christ” hymn in Philippians 2.6–11 is one such example. The Philippian hymn fits an audience’s performance expectations compared to other Greek and Jewish prose hymns and performances. A slave lector likely recited or sang the hymn when delivering the epistle and directly addressed at least four named recipients. This article examines the narrative links between the hymn and the address in 4:1–3. Utilizing performance-critical methods, we explore how this hymn likely functioned for the ancient audience. The reading of the “Lord Jesus Christ” hymn localized the worship of Jesus in Philippi, encouraged financial giving to Paul and Timothy, taught moral lessons, and prepared the audience to address their conflict “in the Lord”. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

16 pages, 942 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mas(c/k) of a Man: Masculinity and Jesus in Performance

by Megan Wines

Religions 2023, 14(9), 1162; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091162 - 12 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1452

Abstract

While both narrative and performance criticisms take whole-story approaches to the texts they are engaging with, performance critical approaches are uniquely suited to considerations of the body, and particularly of gender. Alongside the growth in performance critical analyses of the gospels that place [...] Read more.

While both narrative and performance criticisms take whole-story approaches to the texts they are engaging with, performance critical approaches are uniquely suited to considerations of the body, and particularly of gender. Alongside the growth in performance critical analyses of the gospels that place prominence on the embodied, performed dimension of the texts, when thinking about gender it becomes critical to examine the ways in which masculinity is constructed in and through performance, particularly in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. This article is an examination of the masculinity of Jesus as it is presented in the Gospel of Mark, as it argues that the Gospel of Mark presents a seemingly “unmasculine” depiction of Jesus that performers (as well as later interpreters) would have had to make performance choices about in their own depictions of Jesus for a given performance event. While narrative approaches have more space to hold multiple interpretations in tension with one another, performances of the texts would have necessitated making singular choices that would impact an audience’s understanding of the text. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

17 pages, 322 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shifting Gears or Splitting Hairs? Performance Criticism’s Object of Study

by Zechariah Preston Eberhart

Religions 2023, 14(9), 1110; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091110 - 28 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1519

Abstract

In keeping with the call of this Special Issue, this article is but one voice in the midst of a much broader conversation, attending to whether the differences between narrative and performance criticism are a matter of degree or kind. Narrative and biblical [...] Read more.

In keeping with the call of this Special Issue, this article is but one voice in the midst of a much broader conversation, attending to whether the differences between narrative and performance criticism are a matter of degree or kind. Narrative and biblical performance criticisms are natural bedfellows. The two appear genealogically related as they share similar founders, attend to similar features, and to a degree share similar interests with regard to interpretation. In fact, their interests appear to be so closely aligned at several points that attempts to distinguish between these two approaches run the risk of simply “splitting hairs”. Yet, our recognition of these distinctions is essential for highlighting the unique contribution of each approach. In what follows, I suggest that the differences between performance and narrative criticisms are rather (at least theoretically) a “shifting of gears”, a progression toward a more complex understanding of how biblical texts work in various contexts and how we as scholars may approach them as objects of study. While the object of study in narrative criticism is relatively well established (again, at least theoretically), this is not necessarily the case for performance criticism. In short, by way of contrast, I will suggest that for performance criticism, its object is similar to yet distinct from the object of study of narrative criticism. Such a claim is by no means groundbreaking, especially among the performance critics, nor should it necessarily be viewed as controversial. Rather, in exploring the contours of each approach, this contribution aims to provide additional theoretical credence to certain areas within this conversation. In doing so, this inadvertently has implications not only for our thinking in this particular volume, but also perhaps more broadly for biblical studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

18 pages, 414 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Ritual Bridge between Narrative and Performance in the Gospel of Mark

by Paul D. Wheatley

Religions 2023, 14(9), 1104; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091104 - 25 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2164

Abstract

The abundance of ritual descriptions in the Gospel of Mark suggests a discourse about ritual between the narrator and early audiences of the Gospel. The prominence of the ritual of baptism at the beginning (Mark 1:9–11) and anointing at the end (16:1–8), and [...] Read more.

The abundance of ritual descriptions in the Gospel of Mark suggests a discourse about ritual between the narrator and early audiences of the Gospel. The prominence of the ritual of baptism at the beginning (Mark 1:9–11) and anointing at the end (16:1–8), and the recurrence of themes introduced in Jesus’s baptism at turning points in the Gospel (9:2–8; 10:38–39; 15:38–39) suggest broader ritual—and specifically baptismal—significance in the narrative. Recent changes helpfully differentiate narrative- and performance-critical interpretive approaches as text-oriented (narrative) and audience-oriented (performance), but these hermeneutical methods also work in concert. This article combines cognitive studies of narrative immersion with observations about the role of ritual in group identity formation and the impartation of religious traditions to analyze the narration of ritual acts in Mark. Giving attention to the use of internal focalization and description of bodily movements in ritual narrations, this article argues that depictions of rituals in Mark involve the audience in ways that deliver audience-oriented interpretations through text-oriented means. This analysis shows how Mark’s ritual narrations are conducive to evoking the audience’s experience of baptism, familiar to audience members as described in the undisputed Pauline epistles, the only descriptions of the rite that clearly antedate the composition of Mark. Publicly reading these narrated rituals creates an audience experience that neither requires the performance of the ritual in the context of the reading event nor an “acting out” of the ritual depicted in the narrative to create a participatory, communal experience of the text. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

17 pages, 28141 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“Right on, Vashti!”: Minor Characters and Performance Choices in the Synagogal Megillah Reading

by Jonathan Homrighausen

Religions 2023, 14(9), 1095; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091095 - 24 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1378

Abstract

Every Purim, synagogues read the biblical Book of Esther aloud in liturgy, a tradition that exemplifies how synagogue performance practices elaborate on, revise, and refine minor characters in the text. This paper studies four such minor characters in performance from the second century [...] Read more.

Every Purim, synagogues read the biblical Book of Esther aloud in liturgy, a tradition that exemplifies how synagogue performance practices elaborate on, revise, and refine minor characters in the text. This paper studies four such minor characters in performance from the second century to the present: Haman’s sons, Zeresh, Harbona, and Vashti. These characters evince ways in which performance practices of biblical texts construct moral and psychological assessments of characters in the story, through the interaction of audience, performer, text, and liturgical framing. Further, biblical characters are performed differently in ways which parallel textual interpretation of biblical texts as well as changing social trends and values. In performance, the narrative-critical work of characterization comes alive. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

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13 pages, 245 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Who Tells the Story? Challenging Audiences through Performer Embodiment

by U-Wen Low

Religions 2023, 14(8), 1040; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14081040 - 14 Aug 2023

Viewed by 2025

Abstract

Visualising a character in a narrative is a highly individual act; cognitive narratology suggests that individuals may construct character models depending on the information (frames) available to them. However, many of these frames are formed from knowledge defined by positivist historical criticism, meaning [...] Read more.

Visualising a character in a narrative is a highly individual act; cognitive narratology suggests that individuals may construct character models depending on the information (frames) available to them. However, many of these frames are formed from knowledge defined by positivist historical criticism, meaning that construction tends to follow broadly similar patterns. Performing and therefore embodying a character shifts the role of interpretation from audience to performer; an audience engages with the nuances of each performer’s embodiment of a character in a shared experience of a temporal performance event. This shift of interpretive responsibility to the performer allows them to challenge audiences in ways that an author may not be able to. Embodiment of a character through performance will inevitably challenge readers’ cognitive constructions of the same character to different degrees—for example, gender, ethnicity, bearing, tone, or even action may differ—potentially creating dissonance for audiences. This dissonance may help interpreters to discover their own assumptions about the performed texts, in doing so creating new avenues for interpretation. Such is the promise of performance: by viewing embodied narratives, audiences are challenged to view alternative interpretations and subsequently reconcile differences between their constructions and those of the performers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

13 pages, 296 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Between Reading and Performance: The Presence and Absence of Physical Texts

by Nicholas A. Elder

Religions 2023, 14(8), 979; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14080979 - 28 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1027

Abstract

In New Testament scholarship, there is a division between practitioners of performance criticism and those who engage the sociology of reading and reading cultures in the ancient Mediterranean context. The former, as the name of their methodology implies, tend to emphasize the performative [...] Read more.

In New Testament scholarship, there is a division between practitioners of performance criticism and those who engage the sociology of reading and reading cultures in the ancient Mediterranean context. The former, as the name of their methodology implies, tend to emphasize the performative nature of engaging textual traditions and downplay the importance of the physical document in a performance event. The latter stress the importance of the physical text in a reading event. This article reaches across the division between performance and reading, suggesting that written manuscripts play different roles in different kinds of performance and reading events. It surveys primary source evidence of two types: one in which the physical text is absent from or de-emphasized in the performance event and another in which the document is explicitly present and figures prominently in the reading event. The article concludes by suggesting that performance critics ought to be more explicit about what role they imagine physical documents to have in hypothetical performance events and that those engaging the sociology of reading ought to be more attuned to the performative potential of communal reading events. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

14 pages, 368 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Questioning the Questions around Jesus’s Authority in Mark 11:27–33: A Performance Perspective

by Michael R. Whitenton

Religions 2023, 14(8), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14080972 - 27 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1406

Abstract

The rise of performance criticism prompts questions about its relationship to other disciplines, most notably narrative criticism. While narrative critics traditionally focus solely on the textual elements within their cultural context, performance critics adopt a broader understanding of the term “text”, encompassing not [...] Read more.

The rise of performance criticism prompts questions about its relationship to other disciplines, most notably narrative criticism. While narrative critics traditionally focus solely on the textual elements within their cultural context, performance critics adopt a broader understanding of the term “text”, encompassing not only the cultural context but also performative aspects, such as the setting for public reading, the involvement of a skilled performer, and dynamics introduced by a diverse performance audience. This article demonstrates the distinctiveness of a performance-critical approach through a reappraisal of Mark 11:27–33, showing how such an approach yields different interpretive results when compared to traditional narrative criticism. More specifically, whereas traditional narrative readings generally conclude that Jesus is merely evading his interlocutors, I argue that a performance-critical approach suggests that many ancient listeners would have concluded that the lector-as-Jesus was insinuating, for those with ears to hear, that Jesus’s authority derives from God and was granted at his baptism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Narrative and Performance Criticisms—A Difference of Degree or Kind?)

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