The quest for the fictional Jesus
Subtitle: gospel rewrites, gospel (re)interpretation, and Christological portraits within Jesus novels
By: Margaret E. Ramey
Publisher: Pickwick Publications
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Eugene, Oregon
Language: eng
Number of pages: 210
ISBN-13: 9781610977388
Copyright date: 2013
Subjects: American Christian fiction; In literature; History and criticism
Description: For almost two millennia, Jesus' story has been retold in various forms and fashions, but in the last century a new way of reimagining the man from Galilee and rewriting the canonical Gospels has sprung up in the form of Jesus novels. While the novels themselves are as varied as their authors, this work aims at introducing readers to some common literary strategies and theological agendas found in this rewriting phenomenon by surveying a few prominent examples. It also explores the question of what happens when we examine the intertextual play between these Gospel rewrites and their Gospel progenitors as we allow these contemporary novels to pose new questions to their ancient counterparts. An intriguing hermeneutical circle ensues as we embark on our quest for the fictional Jesus and accompany his incarnations as they lead us back to reexamine the canonical portraits of Jesus anew.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-210).
Table of contents: title: Introduction : Jesus and Jesus stories -- -- Part I : From Jesus to Jesus texts; title: Prolegomenon to fictionalizing Jesus -- -- Part II : From the New Testament to new texts; title: Anne Rice's Out of Egypt as a complementing rewrite --; title: Neil Boyd's The hidden years as a complementing rewrite --; title: Nino Ricci's Testament as a competing rewrite --; title: José Saramago's The gospel according to Jesus Christ as a competing rewrite -- -- Part III : From new texts back to the New Testament; title: The temptation : from Gospel sources to Gospel rewrites --; title: A preposterous reading of the temptation and its narrative role in Matthew's Gospel --; title: Conclusion --; title: Works cited.