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Journal article

Emplotment, Plot and Explotment : Refining Plot Analysis of Biblical Narratives from the Reader’s Perspective

    2013
Published in:
  • Biblical Interpretation. - 2013, vol. 21, no. 1, p. 64-98
Religious studies
plot
emplotment
explotment
biblical narrative
narrative criticism
narrative theory
literary theory
biblical theology
English The notion of plot has a long history of various nuances and uses in literary and biblical studies. Consequently, the practice of plot analysis is quite variable. Although most definitions of plot privilege other elements than the reader, this tendency has recently begun to change. This article argues that plot is more comprehensible and constructive when it is located within the reader’s encounter of the storyworld on the cognitive and affective levels. Thus, the activities of composition and reception, emplotment and plot are best considered distinct activities. An evaluation of definitions illustrates this necessary distinction and leads to a fresh formulation of plot, especially in relation to narratives purporting to be factual. As a complementary step, ‘explotment’ is proposed as a link between the interpretation of the past and the evaluation of the reader, thus explaining the immersive and emersive exploration of the story’s central question(s). Equipped with this heuristic, the interpreter can investigate various questions in the study of biblical narratives on the macro and micro levels; for example, the narrative’s progressive ideological and pragmatic force and development as well as single plotenhancing elements such as various types of pericopes, literary devices and narrative techniques. With this emphasis on reception theory, this type of plot analysis can be especially beneficial to narrative-critical and reader-response studies. The value of plot theory for biblical exegesis is further demonstrated through illustrations and discussion applied to Luke-Acts.
Faculty
Faculté de théologie
Department
Département d'Etudes bibliques
Language
  • English
Classification
Religion, theology
License
License undefined
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/307391
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