Reading With Yin Yang Eyes: Negotiating the Ideological Dilemma of a Chinese American Biblical Hermeneutics

Abstract

Chinese Americans living in today's "postcolonial" North America are often confronted by various forms of neocolonialism. It is no exception for those working within the field of biblical studies. In order to publish and be recognized within the guild, Chinese Americans are often asked to make the "nonchoice" between forsaking their own culture and engaging in the production of some exotic "biblical tourist literature" for others to visit and "sightsee" in times of leisure. This article attempts to expose the oppressive binarism of—in Cornel West's terms—"faceless universalism" and "ethnic chauvinism," and explore how Chinese American Bible scholars may negotiate this ideological dilemma by reading from a marginal site/sight.

Postcolonial Studies and the Hebrew Bible

“…Theological and biblical scholars from previously colonized regions who are now in western, usually American, academic contexts struggle with their hybrid identities living as outsiders in a dominant culture. This method of reading is becoming particularly prominent among Asian-American (see Liew and Yee 2002;Liew 2002;Kuan and Foskett 2005) and South African scholars (see Punt 2003;Holter 2000). One example is U.…”

“…He sees this mode of reading as emphasizing a dynamic view that trends toward harmony, balance, and reconceptualization. Liew (2001) defines this 'yin-yang' mode of reading differently, investing the interpretive principle with a more ideological dimension. While Liew applies this hermeneutical principle to the New Testament book of Mark, the refinement of H.C.P.…”

“…While these postcolonial analyses critiqued the effects of Western capitalist empires, particularly the British Commonwealth, the theories and methods of postcolonial critiques quickly crossed disciplinary barriers and now range from Medieval (Ingham and Warren 2003;Cohen 2000) and ancient Greek studies (Bradley and Wilson 2006;Hurst and Owen 2005;Malkin 2004) to studies of colonial literature and research into colonial archives. As in these other fields, which are only beginning to implement postcolonial analyses, biblical scholars have also recently incorporated postcolonial theoretical concepts into their work (see the discussions in Sugirtharajah 2001;Segovia 2005;Moore 2005; Liew 2005).…”