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This book breaks fresh ground in the interpretation of the Apocalypse with an interdisciplinary methodology called aural-performance criticism that assesses how the first-century audience would have heard the Apocalypse. First-century media culture is probed by assessing the dynamics of literacy, orality, aurality, and performance in the Gospels, parts of the Pauline corpus, and also Jewish apocalyptic literature. The audience constructs of informed, minimal, and competent assist the interpreter to apply the methodology. Sound maps and an aural-performance commentary of Revelation 1 and 11 are developed that analyze aural markers, sound style, identity markers, repetition, themes, and the appropriation of the message by the audience. The book concludes by examining the sociological, theological, and communal aspects of aurality and performance and its implications for interpreting the Apocalypse.
List of contents
Contents: Literature Review and Methodology - The Authorial Audience and the Culture in John's World - Aurality in the Ancient Literature - An Aural-Performance Analysis of Revelation 1:1 - 21 - An Aural-Performance Analysis of Rev. 11:1 - 19 - Summary and Implications of this Study.
About the author
Kayle B. de Waal is Head of the Avondale Seminary and Senior Lecturer in New Testament at Avondale College of Higher Education in Cooranbong, Australia. He received his MA in theology from the University of Kwazulu-Natal and his PhD in theology from the University of Auckland. He is the author of A Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation of the Seven Trumpets of Revelation as well as a number of book chapters and peer-reviewed articles.
Report
«This is a pioneering study in the emerging discipline of performance criticism. Kayle de Waal's explication of Revelation in conflict with the Roman Empire in the context of a predominantly oral society is informed by solid scholarship and generative thinking. The aural-performance commentary of Revelation 1 and 11 is an innovative analysis that demonstrates how the apocalypse reinforces, subverts, and transforms the worldview of audiences in first-century Asia Minor. A fine introduction to orality study of the New Testament.»
(David Rhoads, Emeritus Professor of New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago)
«In this stimulating and important work, Kayle de Waal articulates a new methodology for interpreting the Apocalypse of John, focusing not on its abstract meaning but rather on its social implications for group identity and direction. At the heart of this new methodology is a serious consideration of the oral media culture of Roman Asia Minor. Fully conversant with contemporary scholarship, de Waal guides us through a careful analysis of Revelation 1 and 11, exploring the rhetoric, oral patterning, sound mapping, performance theory, and the implications of auditory neuroscience. The discussion is clear, precise, and easily understood. You will not always agree with his interpretation, but you will always benefit from the conversation. Highly recommended.»
(David L. Barr, Professor Emeritus, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio)
