Thinking Outside the Panel: Rewriting Rebekah in R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis

Open Theology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 557-571
Author(s):  
Zanne Domoney-Lyttle
Keyword(s):  
Comic Books ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
Sacred Scripture ◽  
Book Of Genesis ◽  
Traditional Approaches

AbstractThe rise in popularity of comic book Bibles has brought with it the opportunity to interrogate, challenge, reframe and reimagine difficult aspects of sacred scripture through text–image retellings. By their nature and format, comic books are uncontrollable vehicles of cultural expression, and in the case of biblical comic books, religious expression. As such, they can offer retellings of biblical narratives which challenge established practices of biblical interpretation normally rooted in patriarchal and conservative ideologies and may open the text up to more creative interpretations which are not restrained by those traditional approaches of reading the Bible. This article considers R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis, Illustrated by R. Crumb (2009) as a case study which focuses on the character of Rebekah (Gen. 24:15–67 and 25:19–28), demonstrating how the combination of text and image acts as a commentary to the biblical narrative as well as reframing Rebekah as a matriarchal leader, a move which is not reflected in the words but is depicted through accompanying images. The case study demonstrates how biblical comic books can move beyond the constraints of traditional biblical scholarship to reinterpret characters and stories from perspectives previously unvisited.

Peter Singer's Interpretation of Christian Biblical Environmental Ethics

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Cara Beed ◽  
Clive Beed
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Natural World ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Book Of Genesis

AbstractPeter Singer's (1990 and 1993) interpretations of Biblical texts dealing with the natural world are evaluated in the light of recent Biblical scholarship. The texts in question are among those in the Bible relating to Christian ethical teaching about the natural world. The specific texts Singer examined concern the meaning of dominion and the flood of the earth in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, particular teaching by the apostle Paul in the book 1 Corinthians in the New Testament, and certain actions by Jesus in the New Testament book of Mark. Singer's interpretations have a lengthy pedigree commonly used to hold Biblical teaching partly responsible for adverse Western attitudes to nature. This article argues that such interpretations contradict a deal of recent Biblical scholarship on the texts at issue.

For a Few Comic Strips More: Reinterpreting the Spaghetti Western through the Comic Book

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Grady
Keyword(s):  
Comic Books ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Comic Strips ◽  
Bande Dessinee ◽  
Spaghetti Westerns ◽  
Bounty Hunter ◽  
The Impact

In Christopher Frayling's book Spaghetti Westerns (1981), he highlights how the character of the Spaghetti Western has since become subsumed into later Western comic books, evidenced through the Lee Van Cleef-like bounty hunter featured in Morris and Goscinny's bande dessinée (French comic) Lucky Luke: The Bounty Hunter (1972). Drawing upon this relationship, this chapter will take a similar approach to Frayling, who mediates between comic book influences upon the Spaghetti Western and the later reciprocal impact of these Westerns upon the comic book. It begins by demystifying some of the tacit references to the comic-like qualities of the Italian Westerns. This provides context for the exploration of the impact of these films upon the Western comic book, primarily achieved through a case study of the bande dessinée series, Blueberry (1963–2005), by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud. In a collection that looks to map the relocation and appropriation of the Spaghetti Western, the chapter reinterprets these Italian productions through the comic book.

The Bible and Graphic Novels and Comic Books

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Coates
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Graphic Novels ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Sequential Art ◽  
The Bible ◽  
American Protestantism ◽  
History Of ◽  
Words And Images ◽  
The Relationship

“The Bible and Graphic Novels and Comic Books” argues that Protestants used images for a surprising range of religious purposes in their twentieth-century comic book Bibles. The chapter provides a brief theoretical overview of the medium of sequential art and the relationship between words and images in Protestant comic book Bibles. It also examines the history of Protestant comic book Bible production from the 1930s to the 2010s. The chapter argues that changing artistic styles in comic books reveal changing religious and cultural sensibilities in twentieth-century American Protestantism. The chapter offers close examinations of significant examples from the history of comic book Bibles, discussing the religious work these images performed in Protestant communities.

God and Story in the Church and in Doctrine

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-22
Author(s):  
Paul S. Fiddes
Keyword(s):  
West African ◽  
Reciprocal Relation ◽  
Narrative Theology ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
African Heritage ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Tradition

The paper aligns theological discussion about narrative theology with an empirical study of story-telling in a congregational setting, drawing conclusions about the ecclesial basis of method in doctrinal theology. It proposes to develop a narrative theology in a form that is inclusive of non-biblical narratives, drawing deductively upon story in Scripture and the past tradition of the church in constructing regulative doctrinal concepts for the community, while insisting that these must always be shaped inductively by the stories which people inhabit inside the church today, and outside the church in cultures which interpenetrate it. The paper offers a particular case-study of reflecting on stories from the Bible, church tradition and modern life among a group of young people of mainly West African heritage in the uk. From a ‘thick’ account of ‘everyday theology’ in the church, it offers suggestions for a reciprocal relation between deductive and inductive movements in making doctrine, taking as an example the doctrinal issue of ‘naming’.

“It’s Perfect. It Looks Just Like the Book!”: Scott Pilgrim, Stylistic Remediation, and Transmedia Style

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew Morton
Keyword(s):  
Comic Books ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Box Office ◽  
The World ◽  
Formal Properties

This chapter examines the process of stylistic remediation at work in the adaptation of a comic book to a film and how it is used by a media conglomerate as a means to unite its transmedia properties. It uses Edgar Wright's adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's comic series, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, as a case study and shows how the comic book's stylistic remediation became a type of transmedia style. The chapter first explains what makes film and comic books distinct media forms by identifying their ontological differences before defining the formal properties that are being remediated in Scott Pilgrim. It then considers how stylistic remediation can become a form of transmedia style through O'Malley's work in the Scott Pilgrim series. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) did poorly in the box office, which the chapter argues diminished a rich trajectory of stylistic remediation in comic book adaptations.

Possessing the Iconic Book

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 309-329
Author(s):  
Claudia V. Camp
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Religious Literature ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Iconic Status ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Woman Wisdom ◽  
Martin Marty

I propose that the notion of possession adds an important ideological nuance to the analyses of iconic books set forth by Martin Marty (1980) and, more recently, by James Watts (2006). Using the early second century BCE book of Sirach as a case study, I tease out some of the symbolic dynamics through which the Bible achieved iconic status in the first place, that is, the conditions in which significance was attached to its material, finite shape. For Ben Sira, this symbolism was deeply tied to his honor-shame ethos in which women posed a threat to the honor of his eternal name, a threat resolved through his possession of Torah figured as the Woman Wisdom. What my analysis suggests is that the conflicted perceptions of gender in Ben Sira’s text is fundamental to his appropriation of, and attempt to produce, authoritative religious literature, and thus essential for understanding his relationship to this emerging canon. Torah, conceived as female, was the core of this canon, but Ben Sira adds his own literary production to this female “body” (or feminized corpus, if you will), becoming the voice of both through the experience of perfect possession.

KOMIK DI LINGKARAN INDUSTRI MUSIK

DeKaVe ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terra Bajraghosa
Keyword(s):  
Comic Books ◽  
Music Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Visual Narrative ◽  
Common Practices ◽  
Visual Style ◽  
Song Lyrics ◽  
The Common

Comic ges. Based on comprehention as a narrative media, comics in Indonesia are oftenly compared to bas-reliefs on Borobudur temple and Wayang Beber.. From many kind of stories Indonesian comic books recently offered, with the developed visual wrapping, some comics steal attentions by its unique themes. These comic books are created because of the inspiration and relation to music industry. These comic books couldn't be seen from the visual style alone, as they were created in many visual genres, but they could be seen from their relations to music industry, whether the mainstream or indie ones. These comic books are published together with the music CDs, telling fictional stories from factual bands or musicians, telling a band's factual stories, or created by one of the band members. To understand modes of creation of these music industry-related-comic books, visual narrative approach will be applied. Through visual narrative approach, the band members' or musician's necessity for telling stories via comics, beside the common practices via music and song lyrics, will be observed.Keywords : Comic book, music industry, visual narrative

Breaking the Shackles of Gender Stereotyping to Create New Norms: The Case of Zimbabwean Migrant Women in Mthatha Town

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanction Madambi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gender Stereotyping ◽  
Personal Agency ◽  
Migrant Women ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Recent Case Study ◽  
Traditional Approaches

The migration of Zimbabweans into South Africa is shaped by several factors and processes. Traditionally, the decision to migrate was mostly based on family considerations (where gender stereotypic roles were a priority), although in some cases the migrants exercised individualism and personal agency. This led to migration trends that were male dominated. Current Zimbabwean migration trends reflect large volumes of women as the socio-economic crisis forces them to leave their country. These migrant women encounter a myriad of challenges in their host countries. This paper explores Zimbabwean women’s migration to the town of Mthatha in South Africa, highlighting their challenges and the strategies they employ to overcome these, as found in a recent case study. Applying a qualitative research design and using questionnaires and interviews to gather data from the 100 purposively sampled women, the study found that many Zimbabwean migrant women in Mthatha encountered numerous challenges. They lacked the required documents to live and work in South Africa, experienced exploitation and marriage constraints, and had broken ties with their families back in Zimbabwe. According to the study, these women managed to navigate these challenges, rising above the stereotypic norms and values that used to label them as non-productive citizens to superheroes who were supporting their families and the country’s economy—thus breaking the shackles of gender stereotyping to create new norms. These findings underline the importance of shifting from the traditional approaches to women migration and pursuing perspectives that present migration as a critical component of the process of social change and development to all migrants.

Gender Differences in Clothing Worn in Current Popular Comic Books

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Landon Jossy
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Lower Body ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Males And Females

This study looked at how males and females were portrayed, based on the amount of skin shown in the clothing worn.  A Content analysis was performed on a sample of 20 randomly selected popular comics from the last 3 years.  Both male and female characters were rated on how much skin they showed in three clothing categories; neck line, sleeve length, and lower body.  Results showed that in all 3 categories, women consistently wore more revealing clothing.  The findings demonstraetd that the comic book industry is comparable to other forms of media, in the sexualization of female characters, by having them wear more revealing clothing.

Spinoza and Biblical Philology in the Dutch Republic, 1660-1710

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jetze Touber
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Dutch Republic ◽  
Biblical Criticism ◽  
Ecclesiastical History ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Dutch Golden Age

This book investigates the biblical criticism of Spinoza from the perspective of the Dutch Reformed society in which the philosopher lived and worked. It focusses on philological investigation of the Bible: its words, its language, and the historical context in which it originated. The book charts contested issues of biblical philology in mainstream Dutch Calvinism, to determine whether Spinoza’s work on the Bible had any bearing on the Reformed understanding of the way society should engage with Scripture. Spinoza has received massive attention, both inside and outside academia. His unconventional interpretation of the Old Testament passages has been examined repeatedly over the decades. So has that of fellow ‘radicals’ (rationalists, radicals, deists, libertines, enthusiasts), against the backdrop of a society that is assumed to have been hostile, overwhelmed, static, and uniform. This book inverts this perspective and looks at how the Dutch Republic digested biblical philology and biblical criticism, including that of Spinoza. It takes into account the highly neglected area of the Reformed ministry and theology of the Dutch Golden Age. The result is that Dutch ecclesiastical history, up until now the preserve of the partisan scholarship of confessionalized church historians, is brought into dialogue with Early Modern intellectual currents. This book concludes that Spinoza, rather than simply pushing biblical scholarship in the direction of modernity, acted in an indirect way upon ongoing debates in Dutch society, shifting trends in those debates, but not always in the same direction, and not always equally profoundly, at all times, on all levels.

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