Assessment

Continuous Assessment 30% + Seminar Presentation 20% + 5000 word essay 50%

Module Aims

This module will (1) equip learners with key concepts and tools of narrative methodology [implied authors and readers, character, plot, point of view, the importance of time, timing, order, gaps, and the levels of narration], (2) enable learners to apply these in the narrative analysis of a wide selection of biblical narratives, (3) engage the scholarly community through the secondary literature and position their personal and well supported interpretations of biblical narratives in relation to this community.

Indicative Syllabus

• Character
  • The intriguing character of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)
  • The Parable of the Two Sons (Luke 15:12-32)
• Time and Plot
  • The testing of Abraham (Gen 22) – plot, time, and space
  • Plots, space, and time, in John 4:46-54
• Settings and Locations
  • David and Bathsheba and Nathan’s Parable: time, gaps, and locations (2 Sam 11-12)
  • Explore the narrative use of time and space in the encounter between Jesus and the Gerasene (Mark 5:1-20)
• Point of View
  • A dynamic reading of Mark’s Gospel – an examination of plot and point of view.
  • Disciples as Models of Belief (John 20) – synkrisis or the art of comparing characters.
• Levels of Narration
  • The dilemma of Solomon and the Readers (1 Kings 3:16-28)
  • The narrative function of Jotham’s Parable in context (Judges 6-9)
• Narrative Between History and Theology
  • Jesus and the Narrator in Mark: shaping and resistance.
  • The narrative turn: the difference it makes.

After the seminar learners write a major essay (5,000 words). Learners may develop the presented topic or choose from a selection of essay titles.

Learning Outcomes

• — L01 (Knowledge): Explore how narratives work including the roles of implied authors and readers and critique the concepts and tools of narrative criticism as defined by a selection of prominent scholars.
• — L02 (Comprehension): Convey how texts are actualised by readers and how narrative concepts and tools give access to this process.
• — L03 (Application): Apply narrative concepts and tools to a wide selection of biblical texts to elicit the dynamics of the narrative.
• — L04 (Analysis): Draw, through a close reading of the narrative with the above tools and in combination with appropriate secondary reading, insightful perspectives from the text.
• — L05 (Synthesis): Provide a summary of the narrative questions that emerge and how they contribute to readers’ appreciation of the potential of the narrative. Present the results clearly in writing.
• — L06 (Evaluation): Discern both the fruitfulness of the narrative method and its limitations, and where and how it might fit in combination with other methods towards elucidating the dynamics of the narrative.

Bibliography

• — Marguerat, Daniel and Yvan Bourquin. How to Read Bible Stories: An Introduction to Narrative Criticism. Translated by John Bowden. London: SCM Press, 1999.
• — Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics. London: Methuen, 1983. Repr., London: Routledge, 2002.