Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academy

The complicity of the Bible in the colonial endeavour is no longer seriously disputed. However, efforts to decolonise the Bible, biblical studies and their roles in colonising theology, that start with accounting for interpreters’ social locations, remain few and limited in scope. Ensconced in the i...

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Main Author: J. Punt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2023-11-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/6931
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author J. Punt
author_facet J. Punt
author_sort J. Punt
collection DOAJ
description The complicity of the Bible in the colonial endeavour is no longer seriously disputed. However, efforts to decolonise the Bible, biblical studies and their roles in colonising theology, that start with accounting for interpreters’ social locations, remain few and limited in scope. Ensconced in the image of ideologically secure and contented intellectual space, epistemological and hermeneutical approaches which explicitly involve the social location of interpreters and academic discourses are still viewed with concern if not suspicion. Antipathy towards cultural studies approaches such as postcolonial theory on the one hand is born from ideological preoccupation, intellectual comfort and turf-protection, but on the other hand deprives the biblical studies guild (and associated studies in theology and religion) from a broader spectrum of resources and reimagined engagements with biblical texts and their colonialist-infused legacies.
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spelling doaj-art-9e76ffd7ed0e4074be925594914aaf322025-02-11T09:30:45ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892023-11-0110.38140/at.vi.6931Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academyJ. Punt0Stellenbosch UniversityThe complicity of the Bible in the colonial endeavour is no longer seriously disputed. However, efforts to decolonise the Bible, biblical studies and their roles in colonising theology, that start with accounting for interpreters’ social locations, remain few and limited in scope. Ensconced in the image of ideologically secure and contented intellectual space, epistemological and hermeneutical approaches which explicitly involve the social location of interpreters and academic discourses are still viewed with concern if not suspicion. Antipathy towards cultural studies approaches such as postcolonial theory on the one hand is born from ideological preoccupation, intellectual comfort and turf-protection, but on the other hand deprives the biblical studies guild (and associated studies in theology and religion) from a broader spectrum of resources and reimagined engagements with biblical texts and their colonialist-infused legacies.https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/6931
spellingShingle J. Punt
Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academy
Acta Theologica
title Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academy
title_full Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academy
title_fullStr Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academy
title_full_unstemmed Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academy
title_short Decolonising Bibles? Image, imagination, and imagin(in)g in the postcolonial academy
title_sort decolonising bibles image imagination and imagin in g in the postcolonial academy
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/6931
work_keys_str_mv AT jpunt decolonisingbiblesimageimaginationandimagininginthepostcolonialacademy