First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences: The Gospels as Performance Literature
Ebook
These essays explore the reconception of the Gospels as first-century compositions of sound performed for audiences by storytellers rather than the anachronistic picture of a series of texts read by individual readers. The new paradigm implicit in these initial experiments is based on the recent realization that the majority of persons--85 to 95 percent--were illiterate and experienced the Jesus stories as members of audiences. Either from memory or from memorized manuscripts, the evangelists performed the Gospels as an evening's entertainment of two to four hours. The audiences were predominantly addressed as Hellenistic Judeans who lived in the aftermath of the Roman-Jewish war. When heard whole, the Gospels were vivid experiences of the central character of Jesus. These studies of audience address and the interactions between first-century storytellers and audiences reveal a dynamic performance literature that functioned as scripts for an ever-expanding network of storytelling proclamations whose envisioned horizon was the whole world. When the Gospels were told at one time from beginning to end, they invited the listeners to move from being peripherally interested or initially opposed to Jesus to identifying themselves as disciples of Jesus and believers in him as the Messiah.
“Every great artist eventually puts together a collection of
their greatest hits. The essays in this volume are no different.
This ‘best of Boomershine’ includes recent reflections on the state
of performance and several of the influential studies that have
marked Boomershine’s trailblazing career.”
—Kelly R. Iverson, editor of From Text to Performance
“To read these essays is to be escorted on a journey of
discovering a whole new world: the sounds of the biblical text when
. . . experienced through computer and screen and earbud.
These essays are a clarion call to the church to continue to gather
scholars and storytellers and audiences in the adventure of
exploring together this new world of communication as the medium
for arousing . . . our passion for the healing reign of
God.”
—Adam Bartholomew, co-author of Healing All Creation
“Boomershine has been instrumental in awakening us all to the
importance of media for interpretation. His first chapter is an
excellent introduction to the different characteristics of oral,
manuscript, print, and electronic media. The other chapters bring
alive texts as performed orally and experienced aurally. What a
difference performance makes!”
—Joanna Dewey, author of Oral Ethos of the Early
Church
“For some time now, the question is being asked what difference it
makes whether the Gospels are orally performed or privately
apprehended in silent readings. Boomershine offers deeply
insightful observations about the Gospels’ auditory data and
performative function. This highly accessible book demonstrates how
the Gospels of Mark and John are appropriately being processed
through the sensory gateways of the ears. This is performative
criticism at its very best.”
—Werner H. Kelber, author of The Oral and the Written
Gospel
- Title: First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences: The Gospels as Performance Literature
- Author: Thomas E. Boomershine
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666728798, 9781666728781, 1666728780, 9781666733822, 1666733822, 1666728799
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666728798
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-11T16:23:25Z