John’s Gospel and Modern Genre Theory: The Farewell Discourse (John 13—17) as a Test Case

Abstract

Recently a sub-field in John’s Gospel has emerged that examines the ‘play’ on various ancient genres in the Gospel. Previously, form critics held a tight taxonomic approach to the Gospel such that if John diverged too greatly from a known form, a more suitable generic ‘fit’ was in order. The recent works examining John’s ‘play’ on various genres, however, herald a kind of paradigm shift in understanding genre in John. This article seeks to contribute to this emerging discussion by assessing the theoretical conditions of possibility for John’s ‘play’ on—and eventual ‘up-turning’ of—existing genres, with specific attention to the role of the Paraclete (John 14:16—18, 25—26; 15:26; 16:7—11, 13—15). To this end, the article engages with modern genre theory in general and Bakhtinian genre theory in particular in order to understand how and why the Gospel lends itself to be read on different generic levels.