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This volume addresses missing dialogue between British and African scholars, in regards to the role of British missionaries during the introduction of the Bible and Christianity to Southern Africa. Questioning how well UK Students understand African-centred and generated approaches of biblical criticism, whether African scholars consider UK-centric criticism valid, and how accurately the western canon represents current UK based scholarship, the essays in this work illustrate the trends and challenges faced in biblical studies in the two centres of study, and discusses how these questions are better answered with dialogue, rather than in isolation.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Abstracts
Contributors
Foreword, by Vincent Wimbush, Founding Director of the Institute for Signifying Scriptures, USA
Introduction, by Musa W. Dube, University of Botswana, Botswana and Johanna Stiebert, University of Leeds, UK
Border Crossing in Diasporic Academic Space, by Musa W. Dube, University of Botswana, Botswana
Of Borders, Crossings, Colours and Botswana, by Johanna Stiebert, University of Leeds, UK
Part I
Paddling the Bellowing Waters Away From the Margins: African Perspectives of Proverbs 31, by Mmapula D. Kebaneilwe, University of Botswana, Botswana
White is Purity: Christian Imagery, Popular Culture and the Construction of Whiteness, by Katie Edwards, University of Sheffield, UK
Between Resisting White and Reflecting Black: A Hong Kong Resident’s Response and Perspective, by Nancy N. H. Tan, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Part II
Empire and Identity Secrecy: A Postcolonial Reflection on Esther 2.10, by Tsaurayi K. Mapfeka, King's College London, UK
‘My Words Dropped Upon Them Like Dew’: Toward Reimaging the Identity of African Biblical Interpreters, by Mark S. Aidoo, Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana
Locating African Biblical Scholarship as Another Generation of African Biblical Scholars Takes up the Work, by Gerald O. West, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Part III
The Dark Heart of Biblical Scholarship: Western Readers and African Readings, by Hugh S. Pyper, University of Sheffield, UK
Mwari and the Shona Bible: Colonial and Patriarchal Ideology in Translation, by Elizabeth Vengeyi, University of Bamberg, Germany
The Politics of Appropriation, by Adriaan van Klinken, University of Leeds, UK
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Johanna Stiebert is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Leeds, UK.Musa Dube is affiliated to the University of Botswana and member of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Summary
There has rarely been an effort to address the missing dialogue between British and African scholars, including in regard to the role of British missionaries during the introduction ofthe Bible and Christianity to many parts of Africa. To break this silence, Musa W. Dube and Johanna Stiebert collect expressions from both emerging and established biblical scholars in the United Kingdom and (predominantly) southern African states.
Divided into three sets of papers, these contributions range from the injustices of colonialism to postcolonial critical readings of texts, suppression and appropriation; each section complete with a responding essay. Questioning how well UK students understand Africancentred and generated approaches of biblical criticism, whether African scholars consider UK-centric criticism valid, and how accurately the western canon represents current UK based scholarship, these essays illustrate the trends and challenges faced in biblical studies in the two centres of study, and discusses how these questions are better answered with dialogue, rather than in isolation.
Foreword
What can institutions in the UK and southern Africa learn from one another? This compilation presents a dialogue between academics from major institutions for biblical studies in the UK and southern African states.
Additional text
This is an important and stimulating book that raises important questions about the privileging of white Western modes of thought in Biblical Studies. Its accessible style makes it suitable for undergraduate and seminary courses on biblical interpretation and the content will provoke discussion and debate.
