Introducing Ordinary African Readers' Hermeneutics - A Case Study of the Agikuyu Encounter with the Bible (Paperback, New edition)

This book introduces the concept "ordinary African readers' hermeneutics" in a study of the reception of the Bible in postcolonial Africa. It looks beyond the scholarly and official church-based material to the way in which the Bible, and discourses on or from the Bible, are utilized within a wide range of diverse contexts. The author shows that "ordinary readers" can and did engage in meaningful and liberating hermeneutics. Using the Agikuyu's encounter with the Bible as an example, he demonstrates that what colonial discourses commonly circulated about Africans were not always the "truth", but mere "representations" that were hardly able to fix African identities, as they were often characterized by certain ambivalences, anxieties and contradictions. The hybridized Biblical texts, readings and interpretations generated through retrieval and incorporation of the defunct pre-colonial past created interstices that became sites for assimilation, questioning and resistance. The book explores how Africans employed "allusion" as a valid method of interpretation, showing how the critical principle of interpretation lies not in the Bible itself, but in the community of readers willing to cultivate dialogical imagination in order to articulate their vision. The author proposes an African hermeneutical theory, which involves the fusion of both the "scholarly" and the "ordinary" readers in the task of biblical interpretation within a specific socio-cultural context.

General

Imprint:	Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Country of origin:	Switzerland
Series:	Religions and Discourse, 54
Release date:	June 2011
First published:	2011
Authors:	Johnson Kinyua
Dimensions:	225 x 150 x 22mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	371
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-3-03-430289-0
Categories:	Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > General > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Christian theology > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Christian mission & evangelism Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > The Bible > New Testament > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Christian mission & evangelism Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian theology > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > The Bible > New Testament > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > General Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Christian mission & evangelism Books > Christianity > Christian theology Books > Christianity > The Bible > New Testament Promotions
LSN:	3-03-430289-4
Barcode:	9783034302890

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