DANGER! INGOZI! GEVAAR! WHY READING ALONE CAN BE BAD FOR YOU

  • Charlene Van der Walt Stellenbosch University
Keywords: The Conversation, dangers of interpretation in isolation, exclusivist approaches to biblical interpretation

Abstract

A discussion of the 1974 film, ‘The Conversation’, by Francis Ford Coppola serves as an introductory illustration of the dangers of interpretation in isolation. The film, starring Gene Hackman, highlights the contextual nature of communication, where the viewer becomes increasingly aware of the development of a skewed inter-pretation of an overheard conversation. Utterances and events are interpreted in isolation and perceived as ultimate truths. The social commentary offered by Coppola serves as an analogy for the dangers of exclusivist approaches to biblical interpretation. This article critiques these approaches and offers contextual inter-cultural Bible reading as a life giving, alternative approach that draws from the combined hermeneutical framework of Feminism and African hermeneutics. In this article I will explore the creative possibilities of the intercultural Bible reading process as a space with communal meaning-making possibilities.

Author Biography

Charlene Van der Walt, Stellenbosch University
Old and New Testament 
Published
2016-06-20
Section
Articles