CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.3 The applicability of the Tri-Polar method to the present study
2.3.1 Contextualization phase
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reader influences his/her ideo-theological orientation with which he/she approaches the text. For West, the whole process of interpretation is an integrative dynamic between the three poles which he describes as follows:
The contextual pole makes contribution to the ideo-theological orientation of the appropriation pole, in terms of the reader’s social location and the choices readers make about their social location. The textual pole makes a contribution to the ideo-theological orientation of the appropriation pole, in terms of its own core axis (as discerned by particular readers) (West 2009:255).
Notwithstanding the limitations of the Tri-Polar approach, I find the model helpful. For the purposes of this study, the limitations of this model will be minimized by supplementing it, in the contextual phase, with aspects of inculturation and, in the appropriation phase, by taking into consideration the concepts of social location and ideo- theological orientation as described by West. The application of the Tri-Polar Interpretive approach to this study is described in the following section.
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Inculturation is a term which obviously is not an invention of Ukpong. The term refers to a concept coined by church people and theologians in order to express the interrelationship between the Christian faith and cultures. Ukpong provides his definition of Inculturation Hermeneutics arguing that it is a biblical interpretation method concerned with the creation of an encounter between the biblical text and the African context, whose main focus is on the communities that receive the text, rather than the text itself or on those that produced it. He presents the development of this method of Biblical interpretation in Africa in three main phases (Ukpong 1999:313-329):
Phase one was from the 1930s until the 1970s. It consists of a reactive and apologetic phase. Ukpong argues that ‘during this phase African culture and religion was condemned, actually considered as demonic and immoral by some Christian missionaries of the 19th and the 20th centuries’. He continues his argument by saying that some westerners who did not share the same view with these missionaries endeavoured to legitimatize African religion and culture vis-à-vis Christianity. This phase was dominated by comparative studies (conducted mainly in West, East and Central Africa) whose important result was that African traditional religion came to be seen as ‘Africa’s Old Testament’. In other words, African culture and religion came to be seen as a preparation, or a fertile ground for the gospel (Ukpong 1999:314-315).
Phase two was from the 1970s until 1990s. This period is identified as the most dynamic and rewarding for biblical studies in Africa. It is described as a reactive-proactive phase.
During this period there were reactions to the former phase which gradually gave way to a proactive approach. The African context was used as a resource in biblical interpretation. It is in this phase that two main approaches, inculturation and liberation, emerged and dominated biblical interpretation. Inculturation emerged in biblical interpretation because, despite the comparative studies which had given value to African culture as a preparation for the gospel in the first phase, Christianity in Africa was still considered as a foreign religion represented by foreign symbols and practices. There was a desire to make Christianity relevant to the African ‘religio-cultural context’ and that is
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how the inculturation movement in theology was formed. During this period there was the rise of the liberation movement which ‘sought to confront all forms of oppression, poverty and marginalization’ in the African society. Ukpong notes that the liberation trend is expressed in three main approaches: Liberation hermeneutics, Black Theology and Feminist Hermeneutics (1999:316-317).
Phase three extends from the 1990s to date. This phase is described as proactive because it is during this phase that biblical studies in Africa made an innovative contribution. The two main methods, inculturation and liberation, that arose in the second phase developed two main orientations. The first orientation is towards the recognition of the role of the ordinary reader in biblical reading with all his/her contributions in the process of academic biblical interpretation. The second orientation seeks to make the African context the subject of the biblical interpretation (Ukpong 1999:324). It is from this perspective that contextual biblical study developed.
As has been discussed, in contextual biblical study, the Bible is read in the context of a specific situation. Ukpong, like Draper and West, uses the example of a specific situation in South Africa, where the Bible is read against the situation of racial oppression and poverty, in the context of faith and a commitment to personal and social transformation.
To briefly reiterate, the particularity of contextual study of biblical texts is that it recognizes the perspectives and concern of the ordinary African reader of the Bible.
Contextual biblical study has the goal of empowering ordinary readers of the Bible, those who are not academically trained to critically study the Bible in relation to their life- situation for their individual or collective transformation. There is an interaction between ordinary and trained readers of the Bible such that the ordinary readers are helped to be critical by using analytical resources while reading the Bible. Ukpong clarifies that in developing the hermeneutics for his approach, the resources of people’s culture and historical life experience are used to complement conventional critical tools of biblical exegesis (Ukpong 1999:325). The contextual Bible study is incorporated in this third phase of the development of Inculturation Hermeneutics. The Bible is read against the
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(African) context of readers which provides the critical resources for biblical interpretation, and at the same time, is the subject of interpretation.
Ukpong’s contribution to Inculturation Hermeneutics resulted from his dissatisfaction with other inculturation and liberation models. In these models, Ukpong notices a lack of attention to social issues such as poverty, political oppression, marginalization, and lack of attention to African religio-cultural issues such as belief in ancestors, the spirits, spirit possession, witchcraft, and so on. Ukpong seeks to promote an Inculturation Hermeneutic that he describes as having ‘a holistic approach to culture’, which embodies both the secular and religious aspects of culture. He understands Inculturation Hermeneutics as an approach that consciously and explicitly seeks to interpret the biblical text from the socio-cultural perspectives of different people, including both their religious and secular culture as well as their social and historical experience (Ukpong 1999:190).
Ukpong developed an inculturation model which is characterized by three main features:
first, the reading of the Bible within the socio-worldview of the African milieu, that is, within the religious, economic, social and political contexts of Africa. Secondly, he emphasizes the role of ordinary readers who are influenced by their traditional culture as opposed to the western worldview. Thirdly, he stresses the African socio-cultural perspective, creating a conceptual framework of interpretation.
Ukpong’s approach emphasizes the African context as being the subject of interpretation for the Bible. He stresses the analysis of the reader’s context from the perspective of the worldview of its culture. He estimates that the reader/interpreter should be an insider in the culture, that is, someone who has acquired knowledge, experience and insight into the culture, meaning, the subject of interpretation (Ukpong 1995a:4-5). The objective of his approach is the actualization of the biblical message in today’s context so as to create integration between faith and life. Ukpong outlines five components and characteristics of the inculturation process which are: the interpreter, his/her context, the text, the conceptual framework and procedures (Ukpong 1995a:5).
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The focus of this study remains only on the reader/interpreter’s context as clarified earlier. Though the other components of Ukpong’s inculturation approach are also relevant, my interest remains in Ukpong’s way of analysing the context. Ukpong has suggested some useful steps or levels for studying the context of the reader/interpreter, the context that provides the background against which the text is to be read and analysed. He suggests five steps and clarifies that not all of them are required in all cases.
In the present study those steps stand as useful tools for the study of the Rwandan context which forms the background against which the selected texts from the Fourth Gospel will be read. Following are the five levels of analysis, some of which may be combined (Ukpong 1995a:11-12).
At level one, a phenomenological analysis is done aiming at the clarification of the specific issue in the context of the interpreter against which the text is to be interpreted.
In this study, the issue is already identified as the contribution of Rwandan women in promoting peace and unity.
At level two, a socio-anthropological analysis focuses on the worldview of the people with respect to the issue under discussion. In this thesis this level will point out how Rwandan people perceive the contribution of Rwandan women as peacemakers.
At the third level, a historical analysis seeks to investigate the issue in relation to the history of the concerned community. The focus here is on what Rwandan women have contributed to peace building as well as their failure in the past. This includes both their achievements and their failures in peace-building and reconciliation throughout Rwandan history.
At the fourth level, a social analysis looks at the issue in relation to various aspects of the society. This includes the cultural, economic and political aspects of the issue. The question to ask at this level is on the social, political, economic and religious dimensions and implications attached to the issue of women’s involvement in peace building. At this stage, it will be necessary to point out some gender and liberation issues that arise in the
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discussion on the rights and prerogatives of women in Rwandan society, how they are equipped to perform their roles and the challenges they face in the process.
The last level is concerned with the religious dimension of the matter. This level is very important to this study as it is likely to constitute a space for the dialogue with the selected biblical texts.
The Rwandan context analysed at the above levels will provide the perspective from which the selected texts will be read. The biblical texts will be analysed during the distantiation phase of the Tri-Polar Exegetical Model.