Books in the Biblical Performance Criticism series

Sound matters. The New Testament's first audiences were listeners, not readers. They heard its compositions read aloud and understood their messages as linear streams of sound. To understand the New Testament's meaning in the way its earliest audiences did, we must hear its audible features and understand its words as spoken sounds. Sound Matters presents essays by ten scholars from five countries and three continents, who explore the New Testament through sound mapping, a technique invented by Margaret Lee and Bernard Scott for analyzing Greek texts as speech. Sound Matters demonstrates the value and uses of this technique as a prelude and aid to interpretation. The essays that make up this volume illustrate the wide range of interpretive possibilities that emerge when sound mapping restores the spoken sounds of the New Testament and revives its living voice.""Sound Matters has set itself the awesome task of transforming typographic space into soundscape. In this, the book has succeeded magnificently. Margaret Lee and the nine contributors are to be applauded for their formidable efforts in forging suitably analytical tools and criteria, and for placing sound mapping on a firm empirical basis. More than merely recovering lost or ignored meanings in interpretation, sound mapping, along with a number of other fields, is clearly driving toward a genuinely new paradigm in biblical scholarship.""--Werner H. Kelber, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Rice UniversityMargaret E. Lee is retired as Assistant Professor of Humanities at Tulsa Community College. She is the author of ""Sound Mapping"" in The Dictionary of the Bible in Ancient Media (2017) and numerous articles on sound mapping. She is coauthor with Bernard Brandon Scott of Sound Mapping the New Testament (2009). Earlier she also wrote Reading New Testament Greek (1993) with Scott and others.

How did the visual, the oral, and the written interrelate in antiquity? The essays in this collection address the competing and complementary roles of visual media, forms of memory, oral performance, and literacy and popular culture in the ancient Mediterranean world. Incorporating both customary and innovative perspectives, the essays advance the frontiers of our understanding of the nature of ancient texts as regards audibility and performance, the vital importance of the visual in the comprehension of texts, and basic concepts of communication, particularly the need to account for disjunctive and non-reciprocal social relations in communication. Thus the contributions show how the investigation of the interface of the oral and written, across the spectrum of seeing, hearing, and writing, generates new concepts of media and mediation.

About the Contributor(s):Joanna Dewey is Harvey H. Guthrie Jr. Professor Emerita of Biblical Studies at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has written numerous articles and is the author of Markan Public Debate (1980) and a coauthor of Mark as Story (3rd ed., 2012).

This cutting-edge volume has been brought together in honor of Thomas Boomershine, author, scholar, storyteller, innovator. The particular occasion inviting this recognition of his work is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Society of Biblical Literature''s section on The Bible in Ancient and Modern Media (BAMM), which Tom was instrumental in founding. For two and half decades this program unit has provided scholars with opportunities to explore and experience biblical material in media other than silent print, including both oral and multimedia electronic performances. This book explores many, though by no means all, of the issues lifted up in those sessions over the years.ContributorsA. K. M. AdamAdam Gilbert BartholomewArthur J. DeweyDennis DeweyJoanna DeweyRobert M. FowlerHolly E. HearonDavid RhoadsPhilip Ruge-JonesWhitney T. ShinerMarti J. SteussyRichard W. SwansonHolly E. Hearon is Associate Professor of New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. She is the author of The Mary Magdalene Tradition: Witness and Counter-Witness in Early Christian Communities.Philip Ruge-Jones is Associate Professor of Theology at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas. He is the author of The Word of the Cross in a World of Glory, and Cross in Tensions: Luther''s Theology of the Cross as Theologico-Social Critique.

The history of the Jesus movement and earliest Christianity requires careful attention to the characteristics and peculiarities of oral and literate traditions. Understanding the distinctive elements of Greco-Roman literacy potentially has profound implications for the historical understanding of the documents and events involved. Concepts such as media criticism, orality, manuscript culture, scribal writing, and performative reading are explored in these chapters. The scene of Greco-Roman literacy is analyzed by investigating writing and reading practices. These aspects are then related to early Christian texts such as the Gospel of Mark and sections from Paul''s letters.""At last! This collection of essays by Pieter Botha is a tremendous gift to those interested in issues related to orality and literacy in the ancient world. Botha is among the leading voices in this conversation. His thoughtful and carefully crafted essays represent some of the best work in the field. This collection deserves to be a part of any conversation moving forward.""--Holly Hearon, Author of The Mary Magdalene Tradition""For twenty years Pieter Botha has been doing foundational research on the communications media of the ancient world . . . I have repeatedly returned to his articles, learned from them again, and cited them often. Finally, we have Botha''s important articles collected and easily accessible in this book.""--Richard Horsley, Author of Hearing the Whole Story""Botha''s work is a significant, historical study that cuts through dichotomous views of communication and demonstrates the complex relationship of oral and written media in antiquity. This is responsible scholarship that seeks to define ''orality'' and ''literacy'' as cultural activities informed by their historical settings."" --James Maxey, Author of From Orality to OralityPieter J. J. Botha is Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies at the University of South Africa (Unisa) in Pretoria. He is the author of Everyday Life in the World of Jesus.

Sound matters. The New Testament''s first audiences were listeners, not readers. They heard its compositions read aloud and understood their messages as linear streams of sound. To understand the New Testament''s meaning in the way its earliest audiences did, we must hear its audible features and understand its words as spoken sounds. Sound Matters presents essays by ten scholars from five countries and three continents, who explore the New Testament through sound mapping, a technique invented by Margaret Lee and Bernard Scott for analyzing Greek texts as speech. Sound Matters demonstrates the value and uses of this technique as a prelude and aid to interpretation. The essays that make up this volume illustrate the wide range of interpretive possibilities that emerge when sound mapping restores the spoken sounds of the New Testament and revives its living voice.""Sound Matters has set itself the awesome task of transforming typographic space into soundscape. In this, the book has succeeded magnificently. Margaret Lee and the nine contributors are to be applauded for their formidable efforts in forging suitably analytical tools and criteria, and for placing sound mapping on a firm empirical basis. More than merely recovering lost or ignored meanings in interpretation, sound mapping, along with a number of other fields, is clearly driving toward a genuinely new paradigm in biblical scholarship.""--Werner H. Kelber, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Rice UniversityMargaret E. Lee is retired as Assistant Professor of Humanities at Tulsa Community College. She is the author of ""Sound Mapping"" in The Dictionary of the Bible in Ancient Media (2017) and numerous articles on sound mapping. She is coauthor with Bernard Brandon Scott of Sound Mapping the New Testament (2009). Earlier she also wrote Reading New Testament Greek (1993) with Scott and others.

In this groundbreaking work, Bible translation is presented as an expression of contextualization that explores the neglected riches of the verbal arts in the New Testament. Going beyond a historical study of media in antiquity, this book explores a renewed interest in oral performance that informs methods and goals of Bible translation today. Such exploration is concretized in the New Testament translation work in central Africa among the Vute people of Cameroon. This study of contextualization appreciates the agency of local communities--particularly in Africa--who seek to express their Christian faith in response to anthropological pauperization. An extended analysis of African theologians demonstrates the ultimate goals of contextualization: liberation and identity. Oral performance exploits all the senses in experiencing communication while performer, text, and audience negotiate meaning. Performance not only expresses but also shapes identity as communities express their faith in varied contexts. This book contends that the New Testament compositions were initially performed and not restricted to individualized, silent reading. This understanding encourages a reexamination of how Bible translation can be done. Performance is not a product but a process that infuses biblical studies with new insights, methods, and expressions.""What does ''orality'' and public performance have to do with translating the written Scriptures of God? Many misconceptions about the nature of the biblical texts and their communication in modern world languages are corrected in this thoroughly engaging, wide-ranging book that offers an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to the subject. I can heartily recommend James Maxey''s pioneering work on contextualizing the New Testament for effective contemporary, multi-sensory re-presentation. This is a vital resource for all students, exegetes, commentators, teachers, translators, and other communicators of the Word.""--Ernst R. WendlandTranslation Consultant, United Bible SocietiesInstructor, Lusaka Lutheran Seminary""In this volume, which brings together studies on Bible translation, orality, and performance criticism, James Maxey leads us into new and exciting ways of thinking about and doing Bible translation that takes into serious consideration the local context of the translation. The specific reference to the Vute New Testament translation in Cameroon takes the reader from theory to actual practice and shows the exciting future of Bible translation for performance.""--Roger L. OmansonUnited Bible SocietiesConsultant for Scholarly Editions and Helps""Discarding simplistic communication models and insisting on the role of receptor community in the construction of meaning, James Maxey''s From Orality to Orality deploys a strategic array of tools (orality studies, postcolonial critique, performance criticism, contextual case studies) that allows development towards a (contextual) ''missiology of Bible translation'' and aids in the much needed redefinition of Bible translation as a power activity. In this way, Dr. Maxey also contributes significantly to the relocation of Bible translation within the broader context of translation studies.""--Philip H. Towner,Dean, The Nida Institute for Biblical ScholarshipAmerican Bible SocietyJames A. Maxey is Director of Program Ministries for Lutheran Bible Translators in Aurora, Illinois.

Is it possible to make a case that the Gospel of Mark was not composed by a single man from scattered accounts but in a process of people''s telling Jesus'' story over several decades? And what can we say about the tellers who were shaping this story for changing audiences?After an introduction showing the groundwork already laid in oral tradition research, the case begins by tracing the Mark we know back to several quite different early manuscripts which continue the flexibility of their oral ancestors. The focus then turns to three aspects of Mark, its language, which is characterized as speech with special phrases and rhythms, its episodes characterized by traditional forms, and its overall story pattern that is common in oral reports of the time. Finally several soundings are taken in Mark to test the thesis of performance composition, two scenarios are projected of possible early tellers of this tradition, and a conclusion summarizes major findings in the case. Mark''s writer turns out to be the one who transcribes the tradition, probably adhering closely to it in order to legitimate the new medium of writing.""This is a remarkable book. Just what we have been waiting for to help us understand Mark not only as an exciting story but also as an enlivening performance of the good news. Wire pulls together the challenging breakthroughs of recent research on various fronts that are forcing us to rethink some of the most basic assumptions of the modern study of Scripture. She ingeniously organizes her discussion around the objections often raised by those embedded in ''print-culture'' who can''t imagine that the Gospel of Mark could have been composed in oral performance. She patiently and clearly leads skeptical modern students and scholars step by step into the ancient world of oral communications where stories developed in the telling and retelling.""--Richard HorsleyProfessor of New TestamentUniversity of Massachusetts in Boston""In this exquisitely argued book, Anne Wire pulls together recent research on the oral and aural dimensions of written texts to present a compelling case for the composition of the Gospel of Mark in performance. Rarely does one have the pleasure of reading a book that presents its argument with such precision, clarity, and elegance. The paradigm shift that many have been calling for is here beautifully launched and can no longer be ignored.""--Holly L. HearonProfessor of New TestamentChristian Theological Seminary""Wire''s book is a must read for all interested in the Gospel of Mark. It convincingly makes the case that Mark is orally composed tradition told by several storytellers over time--not the product of a single author. The book systematically reviews and refutes the various arguments that Mark was a written composition and not oral traditional literature, demonstrating that in fact oral composition over time is a better explanation for the Gospel''s origin. She also shows what a difference this makes for interpreting Mark. This book should have a major impact on Markan studies for students and scholars alike.""--Joanna DeweyHarvey H. Guthrie Jr. Professor Emerita of Biblical StudiesEpiscopal Divinity SchoolAntoinette Clark Wire is Professor of New Testament Emerita at San Francisco Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Her writings include The Corinthian Women Prophets: A Reconstruction through Paul''s Rhetoric and Holy Lives, Holy Deaths: A Close Hearing of Early Jewish Storytellers.

Providing a comprehensive study of ""oral tradition"" in Israel, this volume unpacks the nature of oral tradition, the form it would have taken in ancient Israel, and the remains of it in the narrative books of the Hebrew Bible. The author presents cases of oral/written interaction that provide the best ethnographic analogies for ancient Israel and insights from these suggest a model of transmission in oral-written societies valid for ancient Israel. Miller reconstructs what ancient Israelite oral literature would have been and considers criteria for identifying orally derived material in the narrative books of the Old Testament, marking several passages as highly probable oral derivations. Using ethnographic data and ancient Near Eastern examples, he proposes performance settings for this material. The epilogue treats the contentious topic of historicity and shows that orally derived texts are not more historically reliable than other texts in the Bible.""In this book, Robert Miller offers an assessment of the modern study of oral tradition in ancient Israelite literature . . .The result is an engaging survey of the question of oral literature in ancient Israel. The book points up the problems and prospects involved in this most difficult area of biblical studies.""-Mark S. SmithSkirball Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern StudiesNew York University""Robert Miller''s Oral Tradition in Ancient Israel is warmly to be welcomed. Miller is particularly well equipped for this task, being equally at home in literary and archaeological work, and this timely and comprehensive study does not disappoint. Miller succeeds brilliantly in demonstrating that there was an interplay of oral and written composition and performance throughout Israel''s history. We are very much in his debt.""-Paul M. JoyceTheology Faculty Board ChairmanUniversity of Oxford""This study is a fascinating contribution to discussion of the role of oral tradition in the composition of biblical texts. Miller offers an impressive critique of classic and recent studies on the oral-written continuum in a wide range of literatures and cultures, opening up new insights into the literature and culture of the Hebrew Bible.""-Katherine HayesProfessor of Old TestamentSeminary of the Immaculate Conception Robert D. Miller II, SFO, is Associate Professor of Old Testament at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is the author of Chieftains of the Highland Clans and Syriac and Antiochian Exegesis and Biblical Theology for the 3rd Millennium.

The various studies presented in this anthology underscore the foundational matter of translation in biblical studies as understood from the specific perspective of Biblical Performance Criticism. If the assumption for the biblical messages being received is not individual silent reading, then the question becomes, how does this public performative mode of communication affect the translation of this biblical material? Rather than respond to this in general theoretical terms, most in this collection of articles offer specific applications to particular Hebrew and Greek passages of Scripture. Almost all the authors have firsthand experience with the translation of biblical materials into non-European languages in communities who maintain a vibrant oral tradition. The premise is that the original Scriptures, which were composed in and for performance, are being prepared again for live audiences who will receive these sacred texts, not primarily in printed form, but first and foremost in community by means of oral and visual media. This volume is an invitation for others to join us in researching more intensely this intersection of sound, performance, and translation in a contemporary communication of the Word.""This wonderful introduction to biblical performance criticism draws on recent work in oral cultures and translation studies to show how the Bible as performed opens up new understandings of the Bible and audience, offering important perspectives on questions of fidelity and community. Each of the contributions advances the thesis; together they situate the discussion in widely divergent, intercultural settings to offer a helpful and engaging discussion.""--Paul A. Soukup, Professor of Communication, Santa Clara University""This is a captivating introduction to the power of performance criticism in the areas of biblical interpretation and translation. It offers a balance between the highly theoretical and the eminently practical. Biblical scholars should take the risk of reading this most stimulating book that, no doubt, will enrich the established fields of biblical hermeneutics and translation.""--Esteban Voth, Head of Translation, United Bible Societies""Books abound on translation of the biblical text. The essays in this book take the conversation in critical, new directions by exploring the dynamic relationship between translation and performance. It represents essential reading for anyone interested in, not only these two areas, but the nature of the biblical text and communication theory."" --Holly E. Hearon, Professor of Christian Traditions, Christian Theological Seminary""Well written, authoritative, and suitable for classroom use, this fine collection of essays on biblical performance criticism belongs on the bookshelf of every serious Bible scholar and translator. Editors James Maxey and Ernst Wendland, together with their learned contributors, deserve our thanks for again making it plain that without an understanding of the Bible''s original oral and scribal culture, our learned elevator goes only halfway to the top.""--Robert Hodgson, Jr., Dean Emeritus, Nida Institute""This is a welcome contribution to understanding the complex interaction of sound, performance, and communication strategies in the attempt to effectively translate Scripture for contemporary audiences. Read and be challenged!""--Bryan Harmelink, International Coordinator, SIL International TranslationJAMES A. MAXEY is Translations and Biblical Scholar at the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship at American Bible Society. He is Dean of Admissions for the Nida School of Translation Studies and Managing Editor of the journal, Translation. His first book, From Orality to Orality, is published by Cascade Books in the Biblical Performance Criticism series.

For the last two centuries biblical interpretation has been guided by perspectives that have largely ignored the oral context in which the gospels took shape. Only recently have scholars begun to explore how ancient media inform the interpretive process and an understanding of the Bible. This collection of essays, by authors who recognize that the Jesus tradition was a story heard and performed, seeks to reevaluate the constituent elements of narrative, including characters, structure, narrator, time, and intertextuality. In dialogue with traditional literary approaches, these essays demonstrate that an appreciation of performance yields fresh insights distinguishable in many respects from results of literary or narrative readings of the gospels.""From Text to Performance presents a set of suggestive new essays on various key issues in performance of texts, including how a text-in-performance can have a powerfully moving impact on a community of listeners. The essays offer several sensitive insights into the significant differences between literary criticism deeply rooted in print culture and the emerging performance criticism that considers the effects of performed texts on the audience.""--Richard Horsley, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MAKelly R. Iverson is Associate Professor of New Testament at Baylor University. He is the author of Gentiles in the Gospel of Mark (2007), and coeditor of Mark as Story (2011) and Unity and Diversity in the Gospels and Paul (2012).