Performance Criticism: An Emerging Methodology in Second Testament Studies—Part II

Abstract

In Part 1 of this article, I sought to depict performance criticism as an emerging discipline in Second Testament studies. I explained how the first-century Mediterranean area comprised predominantly oral cultures, that writing primarily served orality, that performances were central to early Christian communities, and that the Second Testament writings were basically “remnants” of oral performances. I proposed an outline of the key features of the performance event in an effort to encourage us to interpret Second Testament writings in the context of such performance scenarios. Part 2 comprises two sections. In the first section, I want to lay out the eclectic nature of performance criticism and identify the contributions of many potential partners in the enterprise. These partners include traditional methodologies, recent methodologies, and new approaches to biblical studies related to performance. In the second section, I will lay out the insights and benefits that come from my personal experience of performing biblical materials and of incorporating these experiences into the methods of interpretation that comprise performance criticism. My hope is that performance criticism may not only add to the tools of research in the field but also that the paradigmatic shift in medium from written to oral may bring changes in the way Second Testament disciplines in general pursue their subject matter.