Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis
For centuries, the Philemon narrative has been read as the story of a slave that ran away from his master and must now be reconciled to him, and continue their master-slave relationship. Reading the narrative through a postcolonial lens yields another form of interpretation: reading the text with t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of the Free State
2016-12-01
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| Series: | Acta Theologica |
| Online Access: | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2794 |
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| _version_ | 1823858829168738304 |
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| author | Obusitswe Tiroyabone |
| author_facet | Obusitswe Tiroyabone |
| author_sort | Obusitswe Tiroyabone |
| collection | DOAJ |
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For centuries, the Philemon narrative has been read as the story of a slave that ran away from his master and must now be reconciled to him, and continue their master-slave relationship. Reading the narrative through a postcolonial lens yields another form of interpretation: reading the text with the signified and not the signifiers, reading with the oppressed and not the oppressor, and reading with the marginalised and not the centre. This article argues that the letter of Philemon and indeed the narrative of slavery must be decolonised. Using the Philemon narrative, this article proposes a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis that shifts from John Chrysostom’s interpretation and those of many others after him significantly. The article argues that Onesimus was an intelligent person albeit a slave who sought to liberate himself using the very same system that oppressed him.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-34c699757ef2442da0708bba1f9677ce |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1015-8758 2309-9089 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-12-01 |
| publisher | University of the Free State |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Theologica |
| spelling | doaj-art-34c699757ef2442da0708bba1f9677ce2025-02-11T09:52:01ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892016-12-012410.38140/at.v0i24.2794Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesisObusitswe Tiroyabone0University of South Africa, South Africa For centuries, the Philemon narrative has been read as the story of a slave that ran away from his master and must now be reconciled to him, and continue their master-slave relationship. Reading the narrative through a postcolonial lens yields another form of interpretation: reading the text with the signified and not the signifiers, reading with the oppressed and not the oppressor, and reading with the marginalised and not the centre. This article argues that the letter of Philemon and indeed the narrative of slavery must be decolonised. Using the Philemon narrative, this article proposes a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis that shifts from John Chrysostom’s interpretation and those of many others after him significantly. The article argues that Onesimus was an intelligent person albeit a slave who sought to liberate himself using the very same system that oppressed him. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2794 |
| spellingShingle | Obusitswe Tiroyabone Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis Acta Theologica |
| title | Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis |
| title_full | Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis |
| title_fullStr | Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis |
| title_short | Reading Philemon with Onesimus in the postcolony: exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis |
| title_sort | reading philemon with onesimus in the postcolony exploring a postcolonial runaway slave hypothesis |
| url | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2794 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT obusitswetiroyabone readingphilemonwithonesimusinthepostcolonyexploringapostcolonialrunawayslavehypothesis |