The Tragic in Mark
A Literary-Historical Interpretation
by Jeff Jay
In narratives of tragic drama’s history the Judeo-Christian tradition is commonly portrayed as hostile to tragic drama both as an art form and sensibility or vision of life. With an emphasis on divine grace and justice, theorists argue, Jewish and Christian writers completely eschew anything approaching genuine tragedy. However, Jeff Jay demonstrates that in the earliest years of Christian literary activity Mark produced a narrative that is “tragic,” for it strongly elicits several of tragedy’s recurring motifs and moods, as well as a highly theatrical atmosphere and a poignant sense of inexorability that drives Jesus onwards to the fateful passion.
In narratives of tragic drama’s history the Judeo-Christian tradition is commonly portrayed as hostile to tragic drama both as an art form and sensibility or vision of life. With an emphasis on divine grace and justice, theorists argue, Jewish and Christian writers completely eschew anything approaching genuine tragedy. However, Jeff Jay demonstrates that in the earliest years of Christian literary activity Mark produced a narrative that is “tragic,” for it strongly elicits several of tragedy’s recurring motifs and moods, as well as a highly theatrical atmosphere and a poignant sense of inexorability that drives Jesus onwards to the fateful passion. Theorists who frame the history of tragedy in overly restrictive, even at times reductive, ways thus minimize tragedy’s actual impact throughout the centuries and overlook its influence over several early Jewish writers and the author of the Gospel of Mark, all of whom wrote when tragedy was purportedly “dead.”
- By (author) Jeff Jay
Other Titles in this Series
Theologischer Realismus
Ein sprachphilosophischer Beitrag zu einer theologischen Sprachlehre
Volume 34
Das philosophische Evangelium
Theologische Auslegung des Johannesevangeliums im Horizont des Sprachdenkens
Volume 64
Die Hermeneutik Hans-Georg Gadamers als philosophia christiana
Eine Interpretation von 'Wahrheit und Methode' in christlich-theologischer Perspektive
Volume 80
Metapher und Lebenswelt
Hans Blumenbergs Metaphorologie als Lebenswelthermeneutik und ihr religionsphanomenologischer Horizont
Volume 39
Offenbarung und Entzug
Eine theologische Untersuchung zur Transzendenz aus phanomenologischer Perspektive
Volume 81
Altern und Lebenszeit
Phanomenologische und theologische Studien zu Anthropologie und Ethik des Alterns
Volume 78
Universale Singularitat
Ein Vorschlag zur Denkform christlicher Theologie im Gesprach mit Ernesto Laclau, Alain Badiou und Slavoj zizek
Volume 84
Paul Ricoeurs biblische und philosophische Hermeneutik des Selbst
Eine Untersuchung aus theologischer Perspektive
Volume 67
Mythos und Subjektivitat
Aspekte neutestamentlicher Entmythologisierung im Anschluss an Rudolf Bultmann und Georg Picht
Volume 31
Das philosophische Evangelium
Theologische Auslegung des Johannesevangeliums im Horizont des Sprachdenkens
Volume 64
Jesus in Geschichte, Erzahlung und Idee
Perspektiven der Jesusrezeption in der Bibelwissenschaft der Aufklarung, der Romantik und des Idealismus
Volume 86
Wie entsteht christlicher Glaube?
Untersuchungen zur Glaubenskonstitution in der hermeneutischen Theologie bei Rudolf Bultmann, Ernst Fuchs und Gerhard Ebeling
Volume 52
Similar Books
Punning in Odd or Elegant Constructions in Jeremiah
The Convergence of Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Textuality in the Hebrew Text of Jeremiah
Shame in the Worlds of the Hebrew Bible and Akkadian Texts
A Linguistic Study and Its Implications
Volume 33
The Therapeutae as the Best Paradigm for the Contemplative Life
A Contextual Reading of Philo of Alexandria's De Vita Contemplativa
Judische Musikerziehung im Preussen des 19. Jahrhunderts
Gesangunterricht an judischen Reformschulen als Facette burgerlicher Akkulturation
Volume 21
Parola di Dio, di uomo e di Re
L'assoluta verità della Bibbia nella dottrina cattolica di Bacchisio Raimondo Motzo
Wie JHWH spricht
Die temporelle Steuerung von Verbalaussagen in den Reden nach den Gottesspruchformeln
Breaking New Ground in John
Imagery, Parables, Characters, Christology, and Ethics in the Fourth Gospel
Volume 531
But the Wise Shall Understand
Reuse of Prophecies, Chronotope, and Merging of Eschatological Horizons in Daniel 10-12
Co-production of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Artefacts, Rituals, Communities, Narratives, Doctrines, Concepts
Volume 1
Creation Concepts and Creation Care
Perspectives from Early Judaism, Early Christianity, and Beyond. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics XVII
De-colonising the Biblical Narrative. Volume 4
The Colonial Worldview of the Book of Joshua
Volume 4
