Dialogic engagement between the birth stories in Luke 1 and 2 and selected texts from the Hebrew Bible : a Bakhtinian investigation
Date
2007
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Theology
Abstract
Part of a larger study of narrative strategy in the Gospel of Luke, this article makes use of Bakhtin’s criteria of locus, form, and degree as an investigative tool to explore the intertextual presence of texts from the Hebrew Bible in Luke 1 and 2. To begin with, the
presence of these texts is identified by name, quotation, and near-quotation in the gospel text. Having once established that, parallels in the use of form and sayings are identified between the older texts and the new host text. After that, the question of association in the collective memory of a verbal community is touched upon. In questioning as to what function the Hebrew texts perform in the gospel, their locus, form and degree of presence are identified. Having established how the similarities root the gospel text into the Hebrew canon, the older texts lending weight and legitimacy to
the host text, the focus is then directed at the differences. This reveals how the gospel
narrative, having anchored itself in canonical scripture is then set to diverge from it, ushering in unprecedented events and a new era in the relationship between God and his people.
Description
CITATION: Fischer, B. 2007. Dialogic engagement between the birth stories in Luke 1 and 2 and selected texts from the Hebrew Bible : a Bakhtinian investigation. Scriptura, 94:128-142, doi:10.7833/94-0-1443.
The original publication is available at http://scriptura.journals.ac.za
The original publication is available at http://scriptura.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Dialogism, Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhaĭlovich), 1895-1975, Bible. Luke -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Citation
Fischer, B. 2007. Dialogic engagement between the birth stories in Luke 1 and 2 and selected texts from the Hebrew Bible : a Bakhtinian investigation. Scriptura, 94:128-142, doi:10.7833/94-0-1443