Abstract
Various scholars have speculated about the possible link between the Fourth Gospel and drama. Such a connection, if valid, could potentially lead to the widening of hermeneutical lenses with which the Gospel is explored. While the exegetical field of biblical performance criticism has begun to break open the hermeneutical field by introducing performative and oral elements into the conversation, an attempt to formulate a methodology for a drama analysis of the text still needs to be made. This article evaluates the possibility of reading the Fourth Gospel through a drama lens in order to explore its possible performative impact on a first-time hypothetical audience. The article experiments with possible parameters of biblical drama criticism and how the translation of the text into stage-script format could be useful in academic and ecclesial spaces. Such a translation invites new experiences with the text and an expansion of the hermeneutical spectrum to include various non-textual elements like sound and sight. Moreover, it widens the hermeneutical scope to explore the audience’s own (vulnerable) journey with the performance by taking their possible struggle(s) with the drama seriously.
Highlights
This is the sentiment which gave rise to the experimental exegetical exercise of translating the Fourth Gospel as a script and exploring it – an exercise that this article aims to sample
While it cannot be said that the Fourth Gospel is a drama, it seems to contain various elements that resemble a drama and can invite a drama lens to the exegetical process
It is imperative to look at biblical performance criticism as emerging methodological field
Summary
The art of connecting the Fourth Gospel to a drama is not a new one. Pioneered by F.R.M. 5 C.M. Connick, “The Dramatic Character of the Fourth Gospel.”. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 42 (1983): 29–35; Domeris, “The Johannine Drama (Revised).”. Van Deventer STJ 2020, Vol 6, No 4, 37–58 beginning and builds to a crisis.” Scholars like Cummins, Swanson, and Rhoads recognise that the interest to study the Fourth Gospel through a drama lens is a noteworthy development. This is the sentiment which gave rise to the experimental exegetical exercise of translating the Fourth Gospel as a script and exploring it – an exercise that this article aims to sample. It is imperative to look at biblical performance criticism as emerging methodological field
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