Looking through a Glass Darkly

Abstract

This chapter reviews works with ‘senses’ in biblical traditions as their central theme, with particular emphasis on biblical studies and its sight-centricity and textocentrism. The goal is to refigure the character of biblical criticism and its ‘sense-making’ methodologies. The chapter first considers scholarly trends in biblical studies which focus primarily on ‘sight-centricity’ at the expense of other sensory perceptions, citing as an example the ocular ‘honour and shame’ complex often used to ‘look down upon’ those perceived as ‘other’, including the ‘sensory-disabled’. Drawing on sensory anthropology, it offers an alternative construction of these views. It then examines how the discipline of biblical studies could be transformed, with reference to a cultural consciousness model of disability. It also discusses contextual interpretation and recent work on embodiment and performance with respect to groups and minority cultures perceived by mainstream biblical studies as ‘sensory-disabled’ in some way. Finally, it offers suggestions for reimagining the exegetical task in accord with other sensory frameworks, especially as these are evidenced by the ‘sensory-disabled’.