Surfing with Jonah: Reading Jonah as a Postcolonial Trauma Narrative

Claassens, L. Juliana

doi:10.1177/03090892211001396

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…23 Employing postcolonial trauma theory, Claasens regards Jonah as the "traumatized [prophet] who represents his equally wounded community." 24 Jonah and his community were traumatized by the ruthless empire of Assyrians. 25 Post-colonial interpreters of Jonah may find the narrative's record of Jonah's protest and silence empowering because he does not allow the wrongs of the colonial power to be ignored.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Spiritual Struggles of God’s Servant in the Book of Jonah

Sin¹,

Simon²

2022

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This article focuses on the spiritual struggles of Jonah, as narrated in the book bearing his name. While negative evaluations of Jonah's character have dominated recent scholarly work (for example, as a disobedient, stubborn, nationalistic prophet or anti-hero), this article argues that such categorizations are too simplistic and flat. Jonah is, instead, a complex, round character who dares to disobey and argue with God in the course of his struggle to understand and respond to God's attributes and purposes. Throughout Jonah's book, we see God's patience and mercy at work as he commissioned, disciplined, rescued, recommissioned, and educated Jonah. The article includes an inductive summary of the words and actions of Jonah, a literature review, a re-reading of the text in dialogue with scholarly voices focused on the spiritual struggle of the prophet, and a discussion of key pastoral implications for the calling, discernment and character formation of those in Christian ministry.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Spiritual Struggles of God’s Servant in the Book of Jonah

Sin¹,

Simon²

2022

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“…To conclude this section, I note several additional works that have appeared in the vein of postcolonial studies. Juliana Claassens (2021) builds on Visser and Havea’s work to focus on the ‘“material”, “spatial”, and “collective” aspects of trauma instead of the “individual, temporal, and linguistic qualities highlighted by earlier (Western) trauma theorists”’. In ‘AdJusting Jonah’ Jione Havea (2013) seeks to highlight aspects of justice that Jonah stood for and ‘adjust’ how we hear Jonah.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Book of Jonah in Recent Research

Tillema

2023

Currents in Biblical Research

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In this article, I identify where contemporary scholarship on Jonah continues to ask enduring questions of any biblical text like dating, structure, and message. I also outline how scholars have brought contemporary approaches to the book. Finally, I suggest some points of divergence between scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and consider how recent scholarship has treated past contributions. This survey shows that scholarship continues to grapple with questions that have long pervaded Jonah’s interpretive history. At the same time, contemporary approaches bring exciting possibilities to a book that has often resisted a monologic interpretation.

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“… 9. For collective trauma, see, e.g., Erikson, 1976, Erikson, 1994, Alexander, 2012. For postcolonial trauma studies, see, e.g., Watkins and Shulman, 2008; Craps, 2012; Visser, 2014: 106–29; Visser, 2015: 250–65; Claasens, 2021: 576–87. …”

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confidence: 99%

Resilience through Disclosure and Meaning Making in Qoheleth and the Babylonian Theodicy

Meek¹,

Mehlman²

2023

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

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This study rereads Qoheleth and the Babylonian Theodicy through a trauma lens as opposed to the generic lens of speculative wisdom encompassing retributive justice, retribution theology, and the deed-consequence nexus and their consequent view of the gods’/God’s justice. According to retribution theology, actions correlate appropriately to consequences; however, in light of their suffering and resilience, both authors are disillusioned, struggling to make sense of life’s predicaments despite their religiosity and placating of the deity, as they also resist retribution theology. Rereading Qoheleth and the Babylonian Theodicy through a trauma lens shows that both sufferers seek answers and cope with suffering similarly to modern readers. This study acknowledges the use and limits of retribution theology operating within the Hebrew and Mesopotamian worldview to illustrate how these texts resist retributive justice. However, we also illustrate how the collective and individual aspects of trauma theory transcend ethic, cultural, epochal, and geographical boundaries. Furthermore, the juxtaposed ancient texts demonstrate how to cope with traumatic life experiences outside the confines of retributive justice by making meaning of self and others in the world and exhibiting resilience through effective coping strategies. Ultimately, Qoheleth affirms that while fearing God is right, navigating trauma includes enjoying God’s simple gifts such as food, wine, work, and a spouse for momentary relief. The Babylonian Theodicy sufferer makes meaning and develops resiliency through self-disclosure to friends and acceptance.

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Surfing with Jonah: Reading Jonah as a Postcolonial Trauma Narrative

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Exploring the Spiritual Struggles of God’s Servant in the Book of Jonah

Exploring the Spiritual Struggles of God’s Servant in the Book of Jonah

The Book of Jonah in Recent Research

Resilience through Disclosure and Meaning Making in Qoheleth and the Babylonian Theodicy

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