Postcolonial Reconfigurations: Considering the Minority Perspective
I have been slowly and quite laboriously sifting through R. S. Sugirtharajah’s work “Postcolonial Reconfigurations” on and off for the past few months. Despite it’s small size, the book has proved a challenge for me both because of the denseness of the material and lack of immanency or necessity to complete the reading on my part. I intended on reviewing the book. It is not Sugirtharajah’s most recent work (in 2006 he released “Voices from the Margin” addressing similar subject matter). In fact, “Postcolonial Reconfigurations” was released in 2003, and can hardly be considered a current work. To date, I have not finished reading this book. Who knows, I may never finish it. But I have gleaned something from it. Something I think is important to pass along to my biblical studies minded compatriots.
Sugirtharajah’s perspective is so unique, so very different from my own. His perspective, and the perspectives he calls attention to, were nowhere on my radar. Reading his work has challenged me. And not just because we differ theologically.
I find the world of the Bible to be quite foreign. The challenges of agrarian life. The clashing cultures of East and West. The multiple layers of oppression. The stress of honor. The sting of hunger. This is truly a world I cannot know. It is all together possible that no modern person can.
I do however see, in the hushed voices of the disenfranchised, the outcast, and the oppressed a perspective more reminiscent of the story of the Bible than that of my own. This has cause me to consider the minority perspective. This does not mean their hermeneutic or theology is superior to mine. It means their voice should be valued and allowed to flavor mine.
theology
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minority, perspective, postcolonial, postcolonial reconfigurations, read, Sugirtharajah, theology
Themocracy
When I was in U.S. History in high school, we had to read a few chapters out of A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present. It was a beating in the face at the time, but I appreciate it more now (not that I read it in my free time). It tells history from the perspectives that are often overlooked. Those who “lost.” It’s a good reminder about considering different angles. I believe it came to mind because it often tells the stories of the oppressed.