Reading ‘blackface’: A (narrative) introduction to Richard Kearney’s notion of carnal hermeneutics

Helgard Pretorius

doi:10.4102/hts.v72i3.3122

Abstract

Prominent Irish philosopher Richard Kearney’s notion of ‘carnal hermeneutics’ is introduced by applying it to a case study of a recent event that took place at one of South Africa’s university campuses. The narrative assists in illuminating some of the core principles of carnal hermeneutics and illustrates the applicability of carnal hermeneutics as a ‘diagnostic caring for lived existence’. In the process, an analysis is also given of the event in question, which is connected to what has widely been labelled as ‘blackface’. In conclusion, the contextual, philosophical, ethical, and theological implications of carnal hermeneutics are explored with an eye on theological praxes in South Africa today. Keywords: Carnal Hermeneutics; Hermeneutics; Flesh; Body; Richard Kearney; Merleau-Ponty; Ricoeur; Blackface

Highlights

How do we sense, figure, and discern the other in our midst?It is in response to this enigmatic challenge that I would like to facilitate a dialogue with Richard Kearney’s1 notion of ‘carnal hermeneutics’.2 The question of otherness and the stranger has occupied Western thought and culture from its earliest beginnings
By highlighting Merleau-Ponty’s insight that sensation and interpretation inter-animate each other at the most fundamental level – that ‘sensation is expression and expression is sensation’, or that ‘flesh is word and word is flesh’ – Kearney finds a site at which to reopen a creative dialogue between a phenomenology of the flesh and a hermeneutics of existence (2015:45–46)
Otherness’ in order to complete the turn through a carnal phenomenology towards a carnal hermeneutics capable of accommodating the paradox of ‘oneself as another’ (2015:46– 55)

Summary

Original Research

Reading ‘blackface’: A (narrative) introduction to Richard Kearney’s notion of carnal hermeneutics. Author: Helgard Pretorius Affiliations: 1Faculty of Theology, Vrije Universiteit, the Netherlands. Prominent Irish philosopher Richard Kearney’s notion of ‘carnal hermeneutics’ is introduced by applying it to a case study of a recent event that took place at one of South Africa’s university campuses. The narrative assists in illuminating some of the core principles of carnal hermeneutics and illustrates the applicability of carnal hermeneutics as a ‘diagnostic caring for lived existence’. An analysis is given of the event in question, which is connected to what has widely been labelled as ‘blackface’. The contextual, philosophical, ethical, and theological implications of carnal hermeneutics are explored with an eye on theological praxes in South Africa today

Introduction

Open Access

Blackface as an attack on black flesh

Carnal hermeneutics and theological praxis in South Africa today?