Cultural Disjunctions

Download or read book Interpreting New Testament Narratives written by Eric J. Douglass and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Narratives are the concrete manifestation of an author’s subjectivity. They function as that person’s voice, and should be treated with the same respect that is granted to all voices. In Interpreting New Testament Narratives, Eric Douglass develops this ethical perspective, so that narratives are treated as communication, and the author’s voice is regarded as a valued perspective. Employing a cross-disciplinary approach, Douglass shows how readers engage narratives as mental simulations, creating a temporary possible world that readers enter and experience. To recover communication, readers locate the events of this world in the culture of the intended audience, and translate this meaning into the modern reader’s worldview. Using a staged reading design, this initial reading is followed by readings of critique.