Oral Fixation or Oral Corrective? A Response to Larry Hurtado

Iverson, Kelly R.

doi:10.1017/s0028688515000430

Cited by 17 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…While this and other ancient evidence indicate a range of possible bodily and vocal expressions contemporary to the composition of the gospels, it is not necessary that attentive public readers of these texts would "attempt to reproduce the nonverbal cues described in the narrative" (Iverson 2021, p. 115). Iverson and Larry Hurtado debate over the degree to which people reading engaged in affective interpretation of texts for their audiences (see Hurtado 2014;Iverson 2016, andthe rejoinder in Hurtado 2016). Iverson (2016, pp.…”

Section: Narrative Performance and The Role Of Ritualmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wheatley

2023

Religions

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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.

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Section: Narrative Performance and The Role Of Ritualmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wheatley

2023

Religions

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“…Hurtado's critiques do not apply to many BPC scholars today (Iverson 2016). As noted, BPC had already been changing as a result of internal critiques.…”

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confidence: 99%

Biblical Performance Criticism: Survey and Prospects

Perry

2019

Religions

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Biblical Performance Criticism (BPC) analyzes communication events of biblical traditions for audiences. Every communication event of a tradition has four aspects: a communicator, traditions re-expressed, an audience, and a social situation. This essay surveys the history of BPC and its current prospects and points to the future work of developing a fine-grained theoretical foundation for its work. In the analytical mode, a scholar gathers and examines data from a past performance event to describe it, and its effects, in detail. In the heuristic mode, a performer presents a tradition to an audience in order to better understand its dynamics. In the practical mode, a person reflects on the performance of biblical traditions in daily life. In these ways, BPC reunites biblical scholarship fragmented by critical reduction, and bridges the academic and popular use of biblical traditions.

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“…Recently, Hurtado (2014: 321-40) argued that performance criticism suffers from a misreading of scholarship on orality and composition. See, however, Iverson’s (2016: 183-200) robust response. For the present, all that concerns us is that the earliest audiences experienced Mark’s gospel through corporate hearing, rather than silent private reading.…”

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confidence: 99%

Tasting the Kingdom: Wine-Drinking and Audience Inference in Mark 15.36

Whitenton

2018

Journal for the Study of the New Testament

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This article explores ancient and modern reflection on inference generation and its implications for potential audience inferences concerning the Markan Jesus and whether he drinks the wine the bystander offers him while crucified (15.36). By examining this logical possibility from the perspective of hearing, rather than silent reading, this article sets forth previously underappreciated evidence that Mark’s narrative is intentionally vague at this point, prompting listeners to decide the matter for themselves. Moreover, I argue that the flow and rhetoric of the narrative both suggest that hearers were meant to infer that Jesus does indeed drink – and in so doing enjoy an ironic foretaste of Mark’s vision for the kingdom of God.

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Oral Fixation or Oral Corrective? A Response to Larry Hurtado

Cited by 17 publications

References 6 publications

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

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

Biblical Performance Criticism: Survey and Prospects

Tasting the Kingdom: Wine-Drinking and Audience Inference in Mark 15.36

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