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Interpretation of Cultural Artifacts
A Hermeneutical Square
• The Artifact and the World[s] of the Artifact
• The Fabricator[s] and the World[s] of the Fabricator[s]
• The Engager[s] and the World[s] of the Engager[s]
• The Referent[s] of the Artifact and the World[s] of the Referent[s]
Analyzing the Artifact:Neutral Level Analysis
• Bracket the processes by which the artifact came into being
• Bracket the processes by which the artifact is received and interpreted
• Generate categories to account for the distinctive features of the artifact
Neutral Level Analysis: Music
• Analysis of “notes”– Pitch– Volume– Duration– Timbre
• Analysis of combination of “notes”– Scale/Mode– Texture– Form
Neutral Level Analysis: Visual Art• Analysis of 2-dimensional art
– Medium/Media– Size– Color– Imagery (Contour Lines / Forms)– Compositional Structures and Design
• Analysis of 3-dimensional art– Medium/Media– Size– Color– Imagery (Edges / Shapes)– Compositional Structures and Design
Neutral Level Analysis: Literature
• Fiction– Plot– Character– Foreshadowing– Setting/Atmosphere– Symbolism– Point of View
Neutral Level Analysis: Literature
• Poetry– Speaker/Poet– Figurative Language (metaphor/simile/symbol)– Structure– Rhythm and Versification
Neutral Level Analysis: Literature
• Sermon– [Implied] Speaker– [Implied] Audience– “Teaching”: Information– “Delighting”: Literary Figures/Structure– “Moving”: Argumentation
Basic Neutral-Level Analysis of a Text
• Language
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Syntax
• Progress of Thought
Example of a Neutral-Level Analysis of a Text
Psalm 1:1
• ’ašerē ha’îš ’ašer• blessedness-of the-man who• lō’ hālēk bhē‘atsēt rešā‘îm• not he-walks in-counsel-of wicked-ones• Ûbederek tottā’îm lō’ ‘āmad• or-in-way-of sinners not he-stands• Ûbemôšab lētsîm lō’ yāšab• Or-in-seat-of ones-mocking not he-sits
Vocabulary and Grammar
• Nouns: blessedness / man / counsel / wicked ones / way / sinners / seat / ones mocking
• Verbs: N.B. [no verb copula] / walks [not] / stands [not] / sits [not]
• Article: the [man] // N.B. not applied to any other nouns
• Relative Pronoun: who
Syntax
• Declarative sentence OR Exclamation?
• 3 parallel clauses in content, but only two in form:– Doesn’t walk [progressive] in counsel of
wicked ones– Doesn’t stand [progressive] in way of sinners– Doesn’t sit [progressive] in seat of ones
mocking
Progress of Thought
• Verbs of motion: walk / stand / sit
• Nouns of place (?): counsel / way / seat
• Nouns of persons: wicked / sinners / mockers
Example of a Neutral-Level Analysis of a Visual Art Object
Basic Neutral-Level Analysis of a Visual Art Work
• Medium
• Size
• Color
• Imagery
• Composition and Design
Medium
• As reproduced: .jpeg digitized photo
• As fabricated: egg tempera on wood panel
Size
• As reproduced: adjustable for computer screen or LCD projection
• As fabricated: 43.4 x 28 cm
Color• Orange: rectangular frame / upper and lower
geometrical vegetation effect secondary frame / writing of title / writing in nimbus / ground for writing of the divine name / pages of the book
• Gold: upper, sides, and lower geometrical vegetation effect secondary frame / tertiary rectangular frame and ground for image / clavus on the figure’s robe / book cover
• Lighter Green: L and reverse L shapes of geometrical vegetation effect corners of secondary frame
• Darker Green: Overdrape of figure
• Lighter Brown: Face, neck, hands of figure
• Darker Brown: Hair, flesh surrounding eyes, mustache, beard, underdrape of figure
• Black: eyes
Imagery• Single male figure, occupying more than half of the
available space, depicted from the waist up on a gold ground, wearing a tunic with a clavus and a dark blue himation.
• Presented frontally, gazing directly at the viewer. • Eyes symmetrically placed on either side of the top of
an elongated nose placed above a small shut mouth; lower ear lobes appear on the same crossline as the nostrils. His upper hair falls in symmetrical waves, but his lower hair falls over his left shoulder.
• Male figure gives a blessing with his right hand (thumb touching fourth and fifth fingers, second and third fingers crossed).
• Male figure holds a closed book fastened with at least three bands in his left hand.
• The light source comes from behind the figure (no shadows depicted).
• On the arms of the cross on his halo are the Greek letters [H]O ŌN, and above his shoulders: [H]O PANTOKRATŌR. In the upper corners of the icon two red medallions with gold ornamentation and lettering contain the abbreviated forms I[ESOU]S CH[RISTO]S.
Composition and Design• Verticals: three frames, nimbus [omega], book,
bottom part of clavus• Horizontals: three frames [N.B. non-symmetrical
left secondary frame addition], nimbus [omicron / nu], book, eyes, ears, writing of [H]O PANTOKRATŌR, belt of himation
• Diagonals: top of clavus, blessing hand, edges of book
• Circles: medallions with I[ESOU]S CH[RISTO]S, nimbus, hair, eyes
• Oval: head
Analyzing the Fabricator[s]: Poietic Analysis
• Exploration of the processes by which a cultural artifact comes into existence
• Artifact = “window into the past”• Material processes
– Fabrication of the artifact
• Non-material processes– Intention of the creator (inductive/deductive)
– Role(s) of patron(s)
– Cultural milieu (social class/economic group/gender)
Methods of Poietic Analysis
• Historical-critical methods:– Textual/Foundational Criticism: determining the
original form of the artifact
– Literary/Genre Criticism: determining the extent and composite character of the artifact
– [Text: History of Oral Transmission: orality of text]
– [Text: Redaction/Editing Criticism: citation of or allusion to other written texts]
– Form/Setting Criticism: Sitz-im-Leben
– Historical Criticism: relevant contexts
• Historical psychology: Freudian source
• Historical sociology: Marxian source
• New archeology: Reconstructing material culture
Example of Poietic Analysis of a Text: Matthew 1:22-23
• Textual Criticism: Matthew 1:22• Stephens 1550 Textus Receptus
• Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus
• Byzantine Majority
• Alexandrian
• Hort and Westcott
• Textual Criticism: Matthew 1:23• Stephens 1550 Textus Receptus
• Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus
• Byzantine Majority
• Alexandrian
• Hort and Westcott
• “Literal” Translation of Matthew 1:22-23
• All this took place in order to fulfill the word concerning [the] Lord through the prophet spoken:
• “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they will call the name of him ‘Emmanuel’ that is, having been interpreted, ‘With us [is] God’.”
Genre Criticism
• Although attached to narrative of Matthew 1:18[b]-21, these verses belong to a literary genre characteristic of this gospel [used 10 times] which might be called “Old Testament oracle citations”.
Citation / Allusion
• Isaiah 7:14• Hebrew: Therefore he-will-give Lord himself to-
you sign See! the-young-woman (hā ‘almāh) with-child and-one-bearing son and-she-will-call name-of-him Immanu El
• Greek (LXX): Behold the virgin (parthenos) in the womb will conceive, and will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel.
• N.B. Original context:– doesn’t predict a miraculous birth from a virgin
nor the birth of a Messiah centuries in the future
– is an assurance to King Ahaz that there is negligible danger from an invasion from the north in the late 8th C CE.
Orality
• The etymology of the name “Jesus” (Iesous in Greek) does not work in either Greek or Aramaic, but only works in Hebrew (Joshua = “YHWH saves”). This strongly suggests that underlying this etymology is Hebrew language oral version of the story.
• The author feels the need to translate the term “Emmanuel” into Greek for his readers; this suggests that they are Greek-speakers unfamiliar with Hebrew
Form/Setting Criticism
• What life-setting might have generated the need for Old Testament oracle citations to be attached to gospel narratives?
• Catechetical or apologetic settings to convince Greek-speaking Jews of the congruence between Jewish history and Christian claims [N.B. Not aimed at Hebrew-speaking Jews since not based on Hebrew text; not aimed at Gentiles since presumably they would not be interested in Jewish prophetic oracles]
Historical Criticism
• Triangulate with Luke 1:26ff• Mother: named Mary, engaged to Joseph [N.B. 1st
C CE Jewish marriage customs], virgin• Father: named Joseph, Davidic lineage • Son: named Jesus [N.B. After Moses’ assistant]• Bracket conception by the Holy Spirit [but parallel
other divine conceptions in Greco-Roman religion]; bracket angelic visitations and sayings [but parallel other divine messengers in Jewish and Greco-Roman religion]
Example of Poietic Analysis of an Architectural Object
• Rome: S. Maria ad Martyres (The Pantheon)• 27 BCE: originally constructed by Marcus
Vipsanius Agrippa [see the inscription on the façade] / dedicated to Mars, Venus, Julius Caesar
• 118-128 CE: rebuilt by Hadrian / dedicated to Nature or all the divine powers
• 202 CE: restored by Septimius Severus and Caracalla
• 609 CE: Boniface IV, given the building by the Emperor Phocas, dedicates it to Our Lady and All the Martyrs
• 663 CE: Constans II strips it of bronze• 735 CE: Gregory III replaces the bronze
with lead• 14th C CE: used as fortress and poultry
market / restored after Avignon papacy• 1623-1644 CE: Urban VIII replaces granite
columns and has bell-towers built by Bernini
• 1857: taken over by Italian state
Analyzing the Engager[s]: Esthesic Analysis
• Exploration of the processes by which a cultural artifact is “received”
• Artifact as “mirror for the observer”• Material processes
– Preservation, reproduction, distribution of the artifact
• Non-material processes– Meaning(s) co-created by receptor(s)– Role(s) of patron(s)– Cultural milieu (social class/economic group/gender)
Methods of Esthesic Analysis
• History of the Effect of the Artifact
• Psychological Exegesis
• Symbolic Exegesis
• Dramatization
• Liberation Theology and Exegesis
• Feminist Theology and Exegesis
Example of Esthesic Analysis of a Text
• Matthew 5-7 (“The Sermon on the Mount”)– Elitist ethics for those who strive for perfection
(monks/nuns)
– Interim ethics intended only for the short time until the Reign of God was disclosed
– Private ethics intended only for family and circle of close friends, NOT as a guide for political responsibility
– Reveals each person’s deep sinfulness and thus need for grace
– Utopian ethics which break through the cycle of violence and enable peace by rigorous demands and strict basic principles
– Regression into Jewish legalism characteristic of the Gospel of Matthew’s presentation/distortion of Jesus’ message
Example of Esthesic Analysis of a Musical Composition
• Bach: “Gloria Patri” from Magnificat in D
• Gloria,
• Gloria Patri,
• Gloria Filio,
• Gloria et Spiritui Sancto!
• Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
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