An African gendered ecological interpretive model makes a preferential option for the marginalised women and the natural world. As indicated before, this is because the majority of women, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is impoverished, partly as a result of the ecological
[89]
crisis. Therefore, the interpretation begins with the marginalized women and the natural world (cf. Dube 2001:15).29
It is worth noting that hermeneutical reflection in the context of the ecological crisis entails a thorough consideration of the factors that may influence the interpretation of the biblical text. It is also worth noting that the bible is now being re-appropriated by the subjected indigenous people who consider it to be an important instrument of liberation. As Sintado (2011:108) puts it,
‘‘the bible was taken out of the peoples’ hands. Now they are taking it back . . . Now it is the people’s book again.’’ It is therefore necessary to develop an interpretive model which makes the bible relevant to the local context.
2.4.1. Interpretive strategies
An African gendered ecological model considers three methodological factors. These emanate from a critical reflection on methodologies30 proposed by (African) biblical scholars.
2.4.1.1. African ecofeminism
The first element is ecofeminism. This draws on the feminist political principles as a liberation movement, critiquing the oppressive structures of society which have marginalised women and the natural world (Clifford 2005:224, Rakoczy 2004:301). However, African ecofeminism goes a step further by addressing the link between the oppression of African women and the natural
29 African women biblical scholars have argued that Christianity and patriarchal colonial ideologies were interwoven and have worked to oppress women. See Dube (2000:15, 16).
30 Feminist biblical scholars have produced an enormous amount of hermeneutical methodologies in the past four decades. These methodologies have attempted to re-interpret the biblical texts to counter patriarchal readings that have been used to discriminate against women (Trible 1978). Secondly, the hermeneutical approaches have sought to recover biblical texts and characters that have been ignored in patriarchal readings of the biblical text (Nadar 2001, 2006). Thirdly, the methodologies have attempted to identify androcentric politics and tendencies in the biblical text (Dube 2004).
[90]
world. Thus, the experience of African women is seen not simply as a construct, but also constructs.
2.4.1.2. Social location
The second element is culture or social location. This element mediates one’s experience, worldviews and paradigms. An African ecological interpretive model draws on the resources from African culture that have often been neglected because of the privilege granted to the experience of western imperialism.
2.4.1.3. Demythologisation
The third factor is the interpretation of symbolic language. It is in language that social locators such as gender, class and speciesism are first submerged and first noticed. In short, this methodological approach holds that a life-giving hermeneutic is related to a reader’s social location (cf. Thimmes 2003:134). It is essential to understand how a reader is socially located and to link this understanding with the interpretation of the biblical text.
2.4.2. Methodological steps
The interpretive model considers five methodological steps when reading the biblical text.
2.4.2.1. The world behind the text
This step identifies the authorial intention of the text. The approach taken by feminist biblical scholars has been contested by some scholars. For example, Scholz (2007:28) argues that the weakness of many methodologies developed by feminist biblical scholars lies in their inability to locate the studies within the histories and cultures of the ANE. The first step in analysing the literary text, therefore, is to consider the process of interpretation in the historical context of the text.
[91]
2.4.2.2. The world of the text
This step considers various literary features of a text, its co-(n)-text and its rhetorical or ideological thrust as reflected in the text itself. The text has a voice of its own which may reflect its ideological or rhetorical intention.
2.4.2.3. The world in front of the text
This step considers the context of the reader. It takes account of contextual issues which may shape the readers views of the text (cf. West 2008). This step considers societal challenges and changing circumstances such as oppressive cultural practices (Masenya 2001) and gender violence (Nadar 2001).
2.4.2.4. The world on top of the text
This step looks at the political rhetorical thrust of the act of interpretation and appropriation of which the interpreter is aware and in relation to which he/she makes a choice. This may include the political choice of reading the text from an ecofeminist perspective.
2.4.2.5. The world below the text
This refers to the subconscious ideologies and distortions that the interpreter may not be aware of. These may include confessional traditions, creeds and liturgies. This factor shows that ecclesial traditions can exert ideological influence on the process of interpretation. They also influence the selection of ideology-critical tools (Conradie 2010:301).
In sum, an African indigenous interpretive model begins by looking at the authorial intention and how it aims to persuade the audience in Ancient Israel. It then identifies the concerns of women and the natural world in the biblical text. Next, the message of the text is appropriated in the context of the reader. These methodological considerations may help the interpreter of the biblical text to have a sustained engagement with a text in the hermeneutical cycle.
[92]
2.5. THE HERMENEUTICAL CYCLE OF AN AFRICAN ECOLOGICAL