A white theologian learning how to fall upward
As a theologian coming from Europe, a ‘postcolonial import’ into South Africa, it is my white privilege in particular that continues to queer my understanding of a social revolution on which our future, as a people, may depend. In this article, I seek to turn my personal experience of grappling with...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
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AOSIS
2022-12-01
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| Series: | HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7893 |
| _version_ | 1797979387321122816 |
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| author | Jakub Urbaniak |
| author_facet | Jakub Urbaniak |
| author_sort | Jakub Urbaniak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As a theologian coming from Europe, a ‘postcolonial import’ into South Africa, it is my white privilege in particular that continues to queer my understanding of a social revolution on which our future, as a people, may depend. In this article, I seek to turn my personal experience of grappling with my whiteness into the source of my reflection. Drawing inspiration from fallism – a recent student movement that inscribes itself into a larger decolonial ‘struggle against the globalised system of racist capitalism’ – I ponder what it could mean, in the South African context, for whiteness to fall upward (Rohr). Here, the metaphor of ‘falling upward’ as a kenosis of whiteness is considered specifically with regard to a white theologian’s (my own) attempt to open spaces that could be filled with blackness.
Contribution: This auto-ethnographic essay inscribes itself into a transdisciplinary study of theology and race from both socio-cultural and religiospiritual perspectives. The author’s personal reflections, inspired by his own engagement with the fallist narratives and his ever-evolving attitude towards the blackness–whiteness binary, as experienced in the South African social and academic contexts, are shared as a means to crack open the societal and theological (notably Christian) imagination, both of which appear to suffer from a serious crisis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:38:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-929656be68f94654908aef68c00c1851 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0259-9422 2072-8050 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:38:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-929656be68f94654908aef68c00c18512022-12-22T10:18:21ZafrAOSISHTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies0259-94222072-80502022-12-01783e1e910.4102/hts.v78i3.78935547A white theologian learning how to fall upwardJakub Urbaniak0Department of Historical and Constructive Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of the Free State, BloemfonteinAs a theologian coming from Europe, a ‘postcolonial import’ into South Africa, it is my white privilege in particular that continues to queer my understanding of a social revolution on which our future, as a people, may depend. In this article, I seek to turn my personal experience of grappling with my whiteness into the source of my reflection. Drawing inspiration from fallism – a recent student movement that inscribes itself into a larger decolonial ‘struggle against the globalised system of racist capitalism’ – I ponder what it could mean, in the South African context, for whiteness to fall upward (Rohr). Here, the metaphor of ‘falling upward’ as a kenosis of whiteness is considered specifically with regard to a white theologian’s (my own) attempt to open spaces that could be filled with blackness. Contribution: This auto-ethnographic essay inscribes itself into a transdisciplinary study of theology and race from both socio-cultural and religiospiritual perspectives. The author’s personal reflections, inspired by his own engagement with the fallist narratives and his ever-evolving attitude towards the blackness–whiteness binary, as experienced in the South African social and academic contexts, are shared as a means to crack open the societal and theological (notably Christian) imagination, both of which appear to suffer from a serious crisis.https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7893whitenessblacknessracefallismtheologysouth africakenosis |
| spellingShingle | Jakub Urbaniak A white theologian learning how to fall upward HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies whiteness blackness race fallism theology south africa kenosis |
| title | A white theologian learning how to fall upward |
| title_full | A white theologian learning how to fall upward |
| title_fullStr | A white theologian learning how to fall upward |
| title_full_unstemmed | A white theologian learning how to fall upward |
| title_short | A white theologian learning how to fall upward |
| title_sort | white theologian learning how to fall upward |
| topic | whiteness blackness race fallism theology south africa kenosis |
| url | https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7893 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jakuburbaniak awhitetheologianlearninghowtofallupward AT jakuburbaniak whitetheologianlearninghowtofallupward |