Narrative Criticism

L'articolo approfondisce il personaggio di Abramo nel Vangelo secondo Luca.
Conclusioni: L’Abramo di Luca non è quello di Paolo, ma neanche – da molti punti di vista – quello di Marco o di Matteo, e neppure quello degli Atti. Pur essendo citato molte volte, nella maggior parte dei casi rimane sullo sfondo; da questo possiamo capire perché, nonostante la frequenza, non abbia attirato troppo gli interessi della ricerca biblica. Per farne un personaggio unico e importante bisogna semplificarne il ritratto; ma forse conviene accettare i limiti in cui l’ha posto l’evangelista. Fa la sua parte, e poi si ritira. Se a qualcuno dispiace questo suo ruolo fin troppo defilato, non ha che da attendere di continuare con il libro degli Atti, dove tornerà ad essere maggiormente sotto i riflettori in quanto destinatario di una promessa che si va compiendo.

The thesis seeks to analyze persuasive devices in Revelation 17 using rhetorical-narrative approach. The first part introduces the methodology of the rhetorical-narrative approach and attitude to traditional interpretative approaches. The second part looks at both broader apocalyptic literary tradition and literary features of the book of Revelation. The third part contains the exegetical analysis of the text of Revelation 17 following with the application of the rhetorical-narrative approach. The last concluding part then evaluates the outcomes of the approach and the nature of the author’s persuasion.

In Spiritual Landscape, I use narrative criticism to present the spiritual significance of the geographic environment, social relationships, and the local economy in Luke's Gospel. The stories of the road to Emmaus, the tax collector's feast, and the demoniac's change of clothes, among others, are developed and elaborated using narrative techniques.

In Spiritual Landscape, I use narrative criticism to present the spiritual significance of the geographic environment, social relationships, and the local economy in Luke's Gospel. The stories of the road to Emmaus, the tax collector's feast, and the demoniac's change of clothes, among others, are developed and elaborated using narrative techniques.

The purpose of this study is to explore “who is saying what to whom for what purpose” in the text of 1 Samuel 8-12 through an analysis of the manifestations of ideology in this text. The emphasis of this thesis lies in the application of multiple methodologies in biblical interpretation with a view to (a) reconstructing the material and ideological conditions under which the biblical text was produced in order to determine which group produced the text and whose socioeconomic interests it served; and (b) investigating how these conditions are encoded in reproducing a particular ideology in order to determine how the texts incorporated the particular ideologies or interests of the time.
        The present research, for this reason, combines an extrinsic and an intrinsic analysis to read the world of 1 Samuel. The extrinsic analysis makes use of a social-historical and a social scientific approach to explore the particular circumstances. It indicates that the biblical writing should be regarded as conscious writing which aims to interpret historical incidents and construct specific ideologies. 1 Samuel 8-12 might therefore have been constructed by exilic groups to provide reasons for their difficult past. The intrinsic analysis makes use of narrative criticism, especially the theory of conflict plot, to do an in-depth investigation of the rhetoric of 1 Samuel 8-12. This analysis indicates that these chapters highlight the ambivalence of the monarchy, although the surface structure might tell a different story. The findings of the research have led to the conclusion that 1 Samuel 8-12 appears to present no clear position with regard to the future of the monarchy.

Well-written narratives communicate more than information. What a story communicates is as important as how the story communicates. The narrative flow of a story engages the reader in the action. Narrative conventions assist the reader in connecting prior knowledge or experience with the story. Authors also make linguistic decisions as to how the story is conveyed. The syntax of clauses, sentences, paragraphs and whole documents conveys the story to the reader in expected, and at times unexpected, ways.
This study merges narrative and text-linguistic exegetical methods in the reading of Exodus 2-4. Text-linguistics, the primary method employed, examines the syntax of the story in an effort to understand how the language has been employed in the communicative act. These observations are then combined with narrative observations: characterization, plot, type-scenes, and connections with other stories within the same work, in this case the Pentateuch.

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY £4.95 on https://grovebooks.co.uk/collections/biblical. This booklet offers a framework for reconstructing characters, both within a gospel and across the different narratives—and shows how careful attention to the text gives these characters so much more life and colour.

Streszczenie
W niniejszym artykule autor próbuje odkryć charakter Bożego działania w życiu wdowy z Sarepty Sydońskiej w 1 Krl 17,8-24 i jego wpływ na jej życie i wyciągnąć wnioski jakie płyną z niego dla dzisiejszego czytelnika. Dla osiągnięcia celu ukazuje kontekst analizowanego tekstu i podstawowe informacje z zakresu histo- rii jego redakcji. Dla lepszego osadzenia w realiach epoki podaje informacje na temat miejsca w którym rozgrywają się omawiane
sceny oraz prezentuje sytuację postaci na tle danych o społecznym
statusie wdowy na Starożytnym Bliskim Wschodzie. Korzystając
z dostępnych rezultatów badań i pracując z tekstem źródłowym dokonuje szczegółowej analizy dwóch epizodów: 1 Krl 17,8-16
i 1 Krl 17,17-24.
Szczególnie ważna jest dla autora odpowiedź na pytanie o to, w jaki sposób realizuje się w życiu wdowy zapowiedź posłużenia się nią dla podtrzymania proroka w jego misji. Bóg objawia swoją wolę przez słowo proroka, które przyjęte i zrealizowane, a więc zweryfikowane przez życie, wzbudza w niej wiarę, która stopniowo ulega rozwojowi. Dokonana analiza ukazuje opatrznościowy, w znaczeniu dzisiejszej teologii, charakter działania Boga w badanych fragmentach. Za rozwojem wypadków kryje się Boży zamysł, który realizuje się dzięki współpracy ludzi. Wypełniając misję Bożą doświadczają oni troski i wierności Boga, stając się dla nas zachętą do dostrzeżenia w sytuacji biedy i kryzysu szansy doświadczenia Bożej opieki. Uboga wdowa pomagając Eliaszowi
zyskała szansę na przeżycie oraz doświadczyła wielkości Boga, budując swoją wiarę. Dzisiejszy czytelnik może odkryć w tym zachętę do wielkodusznego zaangażowania na rzecz potrzebujących
niezależnie od swojej sytuacji.

Through a literary reading and analysis of the roles of the main characters in the extant text I come to the conclusion that Anat was punished for murdering Aqhat, though it is not expressed explicitly. Since she is a goddess she cannot be subject to retribution. But from a literary point of view, the narrator responds to the event of the murder, and expresses his criticism and thoughts indirectly. He uses poetic means to connect the event of the murder to other details and events related by him, thus pointing at the possibility that Anat has been subject to retribution on an indirect or symbolic level. Since Daniel’s name may mean ‘El has done justice’ we come to ask: who is responsible for doing justice in this story?
This essay presents just a small part of the elaborate and complex literary creativity of the Ugaritic poet, which is performed in a similar way to comparable phenomena in biblical narrative. Thus, this paper also indirectly supports the assumption that the background of the poetics of biblical narrative is reflected in the Ugaritic epics, and that the two corpora are representative of the same literary tradition in their poetics as in other areas.

This chapter summarizes the story of Mark’s gospel highlighting a variety of its key narrative aspects and emphasizing the discursive features that have most captured the interest of New Testament narrative critics. Next, it surveys the most significant scholarly literature on Mark written from a narrative-critical perspective, and draws attention to how narrative interpretations of Mark have paralleled the development of New Testament narrative criticism generally. Finally, it suggests two aspects of Mark’s narrative in need of further analysis: time and focalization. Taking Mark 6:7–30 as a test case, the chapter juxtaposes the film La jetée to demonstrate how the Markan narrator’s manipulation of time and focalization triggers a host of complex questions, and offers the reader greater interpretive freedom, even as it undermines any certainty the reader may have concerning what the narrative means.

For centuries, the story of Lot’s daughters in Genesis is one which has both abhorred and intrigued countless readers. Utilizing the hermeneutical lenses of Narrative and Feminist Criticism, this paper draws attention to overlooked details in the narrative. The story is also contrasted with that of the Levite’s Concubine in Judges 19. The result of this study concludes that the narrative has been misread by past interpreters, arguing that the eldest daughter intentionally sought to deceive her younger sister for the intention of shaming their father as retribution for endangering their lives in Sodom. It proposes that the narrative of Gen. 19.30-38 is a dramatic representation by its author of divine irony and a strikingly pro-feminine text for the patriarchal society in which and to which it was written.

The published texts on posthumanism have been growing in recent years. Likewise, the reception of the phenomenon has become more and more nuanced as well as diverse the analyses. There have not missed metaphors used to bring the somewhat new and unknown phenomenon closer to other more familiar ones. Among these metaphors, one of the first and, in our opinion, most interesting, is that of Frankenstein. Despite its wide use, we consider that is lacking a more detailed analysis of the anthropological motives and the narrative strategies contained in the use of this metaphor as a criticism of posthumanism. The article seeks to develop this analysis.

and Keywords Four narrative features of the book of Revelation are the focus of this article: masterplot, characters and characterization, architectural and topographical settings, and numerical symbolism. Masterplots are skeletal stories belonging to cultures and individuals that clarify questions of identity, values, or the understanding of life. The masterplot of Revela tion is a quest story of the people of God in search of the new promised land, the new Jerusalem. Characters either aid or hinder the questers' sojourn. Hybrid characters, which blend character traits from the world below with characteristics of this world, or combine the human with the inhuman, underscore the dangers the exodus-people, the fol lowers of the Lamb, encounter on their trek. Other characters-such as the angel of Rev 10-advance their quest with a MacGuffin. Architectural and topographical settings-such as Babylon, the new Jerusalem, the desert, and the sea-amplify peril and solace on the journey. Symbolic numbers are road signs that warn the exodus-people of dangers or proffer divine succor and protection. A narrative analysis of the book of Revelation focuses on how the narrative constructs its meaning and the way diverse narrative features-such as masterplot, character, setting, and rhetoric-coalesce to form an indivisible whole. Some of the questions that amplify the literariness of Revelation are as follows: How does the older biblical masterplot of a people being enslaved in Egypt, pursued by a bloodthirsty pharaoh, wandering in the wilderness, and journeying to the new promised land, clarify Revelation's plot? In what ways do John's bizarre hybrid characters that merge traits from the world below and from this world, or the human with the inhuman, intensify plot conflicts and complicate the quest for the new Jerusalem? How do the fierce landscapes of desert and sea accent peril and solace on the journey to the new Jerusalem? In what ways is Babylon the archetypal city of oppression and captivity that the exodus-people-the followers of the Lamb-must flee to realize their quest for the new promised land? And how do symbolic threes, three-and-a-halves, sixes, sevens, and twelves serve as signs of solace and peril for the exodus

This article introduces and overviews New Testament media criticism. Media criticism is an emerging biblical methodology that encompasses four related fields: orality studies, social memory theory, performance criticism, and the Bible in modern media. The article addresses the methodological foundations of these fields and reviews recent contributions in each of them.

The book of the Acts of the Apostles, like the Gospels and to a certain extent the book of Revelation, consists of narratives. This means that the way we read these narrative texts will be considerably different than the way we read, for example, New Testament letters. This short paper proposes to introduce its readers to a narrative approach to the Acts of the Apostles, i.e. to read the book as a story. First of all, we will address the methodology. Here, we will understand how the reading approach works, what are its elements, and how it can be applied to the Acts of the Apostles. The second half of this paper will consist of a case study where I will apply this methodology to Acts 3:1-10. Lastly, we will discuss the limitations of the approach and how it may be complemented or developed. Let us, first, make two considerations regarding this paper.

Hokhma 108/2015, pp. 97-123
Cet article explore les liens entre le sens de mythos dans la
Poétique d’Aristote, l’historiographie et les écrits de Luc comme texte de comparaison pour les récits bibliques. La question est placée dans un cadre plus large, notamment le rapport entre l’exégèse biblique et les approches littéraires, anciennes et nouvelles. Il peut sembler étrange de commencer par Aristote. Toutefois, c’est bien dans sa Poétique que nous trouvons les racines de la théorie littéraire, si bien que la plupart des introductions à la critique littéraire rendent hommage à Aristote comme le souligne la citation de Tsvetan Todorov susmentionnée. En effet, quiconque travaille avec des méthodes littéraires peut profiter de ce patrimoine qu’est la Poétique. La question est donc pertinente, parce que la théorie d’Aristote connaît un regain d’intérêt depuis plusieurs décennies et, comme cela se passe souvent, les approches littéraires influencent, tôt ou tard, le domaine de l’exégèse biblique. Peut-on justifier cet essor des approches littéraires dans l’histo
riographie et dans l’exégèse biblique ? N’est-ce pas vouloir mélanger l’huile et l’eau ? N’est-on pas en train d’imposer des concepts modernes à des textes anciens ? Pour certains cette question peut sembler déjà résolue – c’est une vieille histoire ! – tandis que pour d’autres elle reste une zone grise. On comprend que cela touche bien d’autres questions. Par exemple, du point de vue littéraire, que sont les Écritures
? Leurs genres littéraires sont-ils essentiellement différents
d’autres formes de l’époque ? Bref, comment ces écrits demandent-ils à être lus ? Bien entendu, ce sont des écrits divinement inspirés, mais quelle place y a-t-il pour la personnalité et la créativité de l’auteur ? Et en lien avec cela, les récits fictionnels et factuels ont-ils quelque chose en commun ? On pourrait répondre succinctement que le romancier et l’historien sont tous deux des metteurs en scène. Mais
cette affirmation doit être justifiée et nuancée. Cet article cherchera à le faire en stimulant la réflexion sur une « poétique biblique » (la poétique étant la théorie de la création littéraire) en vue d’une pratique responsable de l’exégèse – pour l’Église et pour la société – qui vise à proposer des interprétations plausibles des textes anciens.

A conference celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible of 1611 at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio on May 5-7, 2011. This paper argues for the  superiority of the King James Bible in rendering the rhetorical strategy and plot of the Book of Revelation.

Luke's Golpel presents two events, and Jesus participates in both. In the first one, a blind unnamed beggar asks for help. In the second one, an ἀρχιτελώνης called Zacchaeus intends to see Jesus. There are literary parallels and differences between the two events. These similitudes and contrasts are structured with regard to human senses, spatial contexts and verbal attitudes. An analysis of the narrative and sensory-aesthetic texture allows to pose such concepts, revealing two characters who-in narrative terms-share the fact of meeting the Jesus of Luke..

Il racconto di Zaccheo (Lc 19,1-10) mette a fuoco un discorso di priorità cronologica: Gesù va in casa di Zaccheo prima della conversione, quando questi è ancora a tutti gli effetti peccatore! Non pone affatto condizioni previe all’incontro, neanche di tipo morale; e questo provoca la reazione negativa di tutti i presenti. L’incontro con Gesù non presuppone il cambiamento, ma lo produce; non è il risultato di un cammino (non era questo lo scopo di Zaccheo), ma il primo di una serie di passi.
Questa è la prassi di Gesù: resta una sua prerogativa o può essere assunta dalla Chiesa? Come fare in modo che sia ancora reso presente quel Gesù che entra nella casa di chi è a tutti gli effetti peccatore? Ossia, come coniugare oggi l’esigenza di una vita coerente con la fede celebrata e l’esempio di Gesù, che non pone condizioni all’incontro?

Contributo per la miscellanea in onore di J.-N. Aletti, Non mi vergogno del vangelo: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Bianchini_Francesco_Non_mi_vergogno_del_Vangelo_po?id=UApwCQAAQBAJ

Tra le tante interpretazioni della parabola cosiddetta “del figliol prodigo” o “del padre misericordioso” (Lc 15,1-32), ce ne sono due che attirano l’attenzione perché si distanziano chiaramente da tutte le altre. H. Denis approva il comportamento del figlio minore, che legge come un’immagine del Figlio di Dio fatto uomo, sulla scia dell’inno cristologico di Fil 2; J.A. Metzger invece difende il fratello maggiore, l’unico che ha capito il valore di un corretto uso dei beni. Un’analisi narrativa della parabola, con particolare attenzione a come Luca costruisce i personaggi, mostra invece che c’è un solo personaggio positivo (che esprime il punto di vista di Gesù) ed è il padre.

Beyond the discourse of individual identity, cultural identity differs because there is a consciousness developed out of a shared history.  The expression and recreation of identity and the power of shared experiences through narrative experiences allow individuals to come to understand how aspects of their cultural identity are communicated and fostered.  The narrative paradigm will be utilized to examine Jesse Williams’ Humanitarian Award acceptance speech from the BET Awards in 2016 to see how aspects of identity and epideictic play off each other.  The focus of this paper will be on how the functions of epideictic operate as good reasons to reinforce the values of the Black community. It is the goal of this paper to analyze how ceremonial narratives are used to influence the maintenance of Black communal identity and to extend and reinforce the value of epideictic narratives as powerful discourse.

publié dans Foi et Vie (ISSN 0015-5357), Octobre 2014, Paris, p. 24-36. (http://www.foi-et-vie.fr/)
À partir de l’analyse serrée d’un passage précis du livre (Jr 37,1-
16), notamment de la mise en parallèle d'un oracle avec l'arrestation de Jérémie, l'articlee montre comment le narrateur joue un rôle essentiel dans l’organisation du récit et par elle dans l’apport d’un sens particulier au message prophétique.

Il libro è la pubblicazione della tesi di dottorato, diretta dal prof. J.-N. Aletti e difesa al Pontificio Istituto Biblico nel 2005. Approfondisce il tema della fede nel Vangelo secondo Luca attraverso l’analisi di quattro pericopi in cui ad essere definiti come credenti sono dei “personaggi minori”; la prospettiva ermeneutica scelta è quella dell’analisi narrativa o narratologia; il campo di indagine è costituito dai capitoli 4–9 del Vangelo.
Alla luce di queste precisazioni di metodo e di contenuto, la domanda che sta alla base della ricerca si può formulare così: perché Luca introduce dei personaggi credenti in questa sezione del suo Vangelo? L’interrogativo è duplice. Da una parte: in che senso questi personaggi minori sono credenti? Che cos’è la loro fede e com’è caratterizzata? Dall’altra parte: che rapporto c’è tra una tale fede e quanto di Gesù viene detto, domandato, capito o frainteso? Cioè: in Lc 4–9 che rapporto c’è tra la fede e la cristologia?
I brani approfonditi sono: Lc 5,17-26; 7,1-10; 7,36-50; 8,40-56.
Le conclusioni sono le seguenti. In primo luogo: per quel che riguarda il contenuto della fede (com’è caratterizzata) troviamo molta diversità, ognuno degli episodi studiati fa parte a sé. E comunque nessuno corrisponde alla definizione di massima che si può desumere dal libro degli Atti: non c’è traccia di un cammino di adesione alla persona o al messaggio di Gesù, né di conversione o perseveranza nella testimonianza. In secondo luogo, guardando invece al rapporto con la cristologia si può notare un percorso; Luca delinea infatti un progressivo cambiamento di priorità: di brano in brano, va gradualmente in ombra il discorso più strettamente cristologico (rivelazione dell’identità di Gesù) mentre invece acquista luminosità il tema della fede. La fede non è la tematica principale nei capitoli 4–9 di Luca, questo posto spetta alla cristologia; però Gesù stesso insinua progressivamente l’idea che, nella salvezza che porta, non è lui l’unico attore, sono chiamati in causa anche i destinatari della sua azione salvifica. Egli perdona, guarisce, risuscita, ma tutto ciò non senza la fede dei personaggi del racconto.

In numerous ways-morally, literarily, theologically- the strange turn of
affairs in 1 Kings 13 hinges on the Bethelite prophet's decision to seek out
the man of God from Judah and dupe his southern "brother" into breaking
God's threefold commandment. But since the narrator does not reveal
what the Bethel prophet hopes to achieve through this act of deception,
it is left to the reader to consider the possibilities and, as is the business
of biblical exegetes, to speculate. This essay grapples with the characteri-
zation of the two anonymous prophets in 1 Kings 13, focusing especially
on the older prophet's motive for deceiving the man of God from Judah
In addition, we shall consider how the Bethel prophet's actions relate to
the story's function in Kings.