Intertextuality, the Hermeneutics of “Other,” and Mark 16:6-7: A New but Not New Challenge for Biblical Interpreters

Abstract

The present cultural climate of alienation and suspicion creates a new moment for biblical scholarship. Reclaiming and redefining intertextuality in biblical interpretation with an appreciation for a hermeneutics of “other” can be helpful, especially an explicit and systematic “intertextual” conversation with the voices of the cultural “other” and the biblical text. Mark's resurrection narrative (Mk 16:1—8) and particularly the young man's words to the women at the tomb are studied, employing Julia Kristeva's appreciation of the inner and outer play of a text. A hearing of the Markan text from the perspective of the hermeneutics of “other” reveals startling insights into the gospel's meaning of the resurrection and its implications for a world that suspects the other.