Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Biblical Criticism

The Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Biblical Criticism is a comprehensive treatment of a relatively new form of scholarship. Generally speaking, postcolonialism aims to critique and dismantle hegemonic worldviews and power structures, while giving voice to previously marginalized peoples and systems of thought. This approach has inevitably engaged with the text and reception of the Bible, a scripture that Western colonizers introduced to-and often imposed upon-their colonial subjects. With a globally diverse list of contributors, the Handbook aims to cover the perspective and context of the authors of the Bible, as well as the modern experiences of imperialism, resistance, decolonization, and nationalism.

List of contents

• Introduction


• R. S. Sugirtharajah


• The Egyptian Empire in the Bible


• D. N. Premnath


• The Neo-Assyrian Empire through a Postcolonial Lens


• Safwat Marzouk


• The Babylonian Empire in the Bible


• Hemchand Gossai


• Anointed Saviors or Oppressive Enslavers?: Achaemenid Administration and Judean Subjects


• Daniel L. Smith-Christopher


• Jewish Negotiations of Hellenistic Power


• Warren Carter


• The Roman Empire in the Synoptic Gospels


• Judith A. Diehl


• John's Writings and Empire: Views of Empire Studies and Postcolonial Criticism


• Jin Young Choi


• The Roman Empire in Paul's Letters


• Tat-siong Benny Liew


• The Roman Empire in the Book of Revelation


• Jacqueline M. Hidalgo


• The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas and Empire


• Clara A. B. Joseph


• Scriptural Battlefields: The Old Testament, Legal Culture, and the Polemics of the Spanish New World Empire, 1492-1821


• Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra


• Scriptural Battlefields: The Old Testament, Legal Culture, and the Polemics of the Spanish New World Empire, 1492-1821


• Adrian Masters


• The Bible and the Dutch Empire


• Janneke Stegeman


• The Bible and the British Empire


• Ralph Broadbent


• White Woman's Burden and the Bible during the British Occupation of Singapore


• Chin Ming Stephen Lim


• The Bible in the German Empire


• Joerg Rieger


• The Bible and American Empire


• Judith H. Newman


• The Colonizing Other: The Japanese Challenge for Postcolonial Biblical Criticism


• Emily Anderson


• The Bible in the Korean Resistance against the Japanese Empire (1910-1945)


• Jina Kang


• Competing Narratives on Bible Translation in India: Missionary Linguistics, Postcolonial Criticism, and Translation Studies


• Hephzibah Israel


• Bible Translation in the Colonial Project in Africa and Its Impact on African Languages and Cultures


• Dora R. Mbuwayesango


• Cross-Textual Interpretation as Postcolonial Strategy in Bible Translation in Asia


• Archie C. C. Lee


• Postcolonial Biblical Criticism and Queer Studies


• Jeremy Punt


• Race, Scriptures, and the Postcolonial World


• Vincent L. Wimbush


• Ecology and Postcolonial Biblical Criticism


• Ellen F. Davis


• Bible, Empire, Liberalism, and Racial Capitalism


• Steed Vernyl Davidson


• Postcolonial Biblical Criticism and Feminist Studies


• Susanne Scholz


• Postcolonial Liberation: Decolonizing Biblical Studies in the South African Postcolony


• Gerald O. West


• Materialist/Marxist Interpretations and Postcolonial Biblical Criticism


• Niall McKay


• The Rise of Postcolonial Criticism in Biblical Studies and Its Current Status


• Raj Nadella


• Empire, Postcolonial Criticism, and Biblical Studies


• Sharon Jacob

About the author

R S Sugirtharajah is Professor Emeritus in Biblical Hermeneutics at Birmingham University, U.K., and has taught and lectured in several countries. He is author and editor of significant volumes on biblical studies, including The Bible and Asia (Harvard University Press), Jesus in Asia (Harvard University Press), The Bible and Empire (Cambridge University Press), The Bible and the Third World (Cambridge University Press), Postcolonial Criticism and Biblical Interpretation (Oxford University Press), Exploring Postcolonial Biblical Criticism (Wiley Blackwell), and The Brahmin and His Bible (Bloomsbury/T&T Clark). His edited volume Voices from the Margin was a Catholic Book Award winner. Besides his academic work, he contributes a regular cultural column for a leading Tamil literary journal in Chennai, India. He has also published a collection of short stories and three volumes of essays in Tamil.

Summary

The Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Biblical Criticism is a comprehensive treatment of a relatively new form of scholarship-one of the most compelling and contested theories to emerge in recent times, and a topic that actively seeks to expand the ways in which the Bible can be studied, interpreted, and applied. Generally speaking, postcolonialism aims to critique and dismantle hegemonic worldviews and power structures, while giving voice to previously marginalized peoples and systems of thought. This approach, often varied in form, has inevitably engaged with the text and reception of the Bible, a scripture that Western colonizers introduced to-and often imposed upon-their colonial subjects. With a globally diverse list of contributors, the Handbook aims to cover the perspective and context of the authors of the Bible, as well as the modern experiences of imperialism, resistance, decolonization, and nationalism. Moreover, the volume includes both a theoretical overview and an exploration of how the field intersects with related areas, such as gender studies, race, postmodernism, and liberation theology.

Additional text

For the scholar of Christian religion, this is a work that will challenge assumptions, give cause for reflection, and provide helpful signposts from seasoned guides toward new avenues of inquiry.

Product details

• Authors: R. S. ( Sugirtharajah, R. S. (University of Birmingham) Sugirtharajah
• Assisted by: R. S. Sugirtharajah (Editor), Sugirtharajah R. S. (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 26.07.2023
• EAN: 9780190888459
• ISBN: 978-0-19-088845-9
• No. of pages: 792
• Series: Oxford Handbooks; Oxford Handbooks Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Christianity; BIBLES / General, Christianity, Sacred texts, Christianity: sacred texts and revered writings