Polyphony in the Biblical Text from a Postmodern Perspective
“Polyphony in the biblical text from a postmodern perspective” analyzes the concept of “polyphony”, specific to postmodernism. It speaks about encouraging the dialogue between different voices in the community. The author shows that polyphony is also present in the text of the Old Testament. The...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | deu |
Published: |
Editura Universităţii Aurel Vlaicu Arad
2019-11-01
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Series: | Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/20/articles/10.pdf |
Summary: | “Polyphony in the biblical text from a postmodern perspective” analyzes the
concept of “polyphony”, specific to postmodernism. It speaks about encouraging
the dialogue between different voices in the community. The author shows that
polyphony is also present in the text of the Old Testament. The article mentions
Walter Zimmerli who observes two contradictory positions regarding the
establishment of the monarchy in 1 Samuel 8–12. The paper also discusses the
position of Walter Brueggemann, an important representative of Old Testament
scholarship, whose concern was to show that dialogue is crucial for living in
community, outlining the strengths and the weaknesses of his position. He
agrees that different voices intervene in the dialogue, without considering the
consequences of accepting some of them. But we have to be aware of the fact
that some extreme voices may affect the other voices involved in the dialogue,
producing confusion. The task of the interpreter, in this context, is to make a
balanced interpretation. According to Ion Pânzaru interpretation is an art. It
allows those who interpret the text to introduce an unlimited number of
restrictions. Even though in postmodernism the so called “reality without
quotation marks” is being questioned, we have to accept that this is a quest of
the human being. It is stated that the interpretation of the sacred text in
postmodernism, has the benefit of freeing the biblical message from the
presuppositions of the hegemonic interpretation specific to the Rationalistic
period. But along with the importance of the dialogue, there are other aspects of
community life, decisive for our existence, such as: respecting the freedom of
others and the values shared by the community. |
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ISSN: | 2067-6557 2247-2371 |