"Preaching as a Carnivalesque Dialogue - between the 'Wholly Other' and 'Other-Wise' Listeners" explores the genre of preaching in light of theories of dialogicity and carnivalization developed by Mikhail Bakhtin. The Bakhtinian approach to preaching evokes ways in which historical acts and embodied experiences are transcribed in literary genres. The theories of carnivalization manifest the dynamic, other-oriented, interaction between reflexive texts and embodied acts. Experiences of otherness and difference play a central role in human communication as well as in theological descriptions of the relationship between God and humans. One of the central aims of this book is to explore ways in which 'others', different from the designated preacher, influence contemporary preaching practices and in that sense can be seen as co-authors. As material for this investigation the book provides analyses of four theologians who have contributed significantly to contemporary homiletical developments, namely those of the American homileticians Charles Campbell, John S. McClure, and James H. Harris and the Danish Systematic Theologian, Svend Bjerg. The homiletical analyses lead to the thesis, that the dialogical encounter between author, and addressees, analyzer and analyzed, is one of the conditions of interpretation and communication rather than a disturbance. The communication theoretical and practical theological analyses are discussed in light of Kierkegaard`s, Barth`s and Jüngel's emphasis on the 'qualitative difference' between God and humans. These concluding reflections suggest ways in which inter-human otherness can function as a dynamically conjoining rather than mutually exclusive difference between God as the 'Wholly Other' and 'other-wise' humans.

Hersteller:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
ute.schnueckel@brill.com
Theaterstraße 13
DE 37073 Göttingen

The author has been Visiting Scholar at Duke University Divinity School during the academic year 2012/13 and graduated (Ph.D. degree) in June 2012.

Marlene Ringgaard Lorensen explores preaching in light of Bakhtinian theories of dialogicity and carnivalization and suggests ways in whichinter-human othernessof preacher and audiencecan function as a conjoining rather than a mutually exclusive difference. Second this thesis is transferred to the relationship between God, the “Wholly Other”, and humans, the “Other-Wises”; it is discussed in the light of Kierkegaard`s, Barth`s and Jüngel’s emphasis on the “qualitative difference” between God and humans. Insofar the author explores the book`s topic multidimensionally, clearly and catchy at the same time.

Ringgaard Lorensen explores preaching in light of Bakhtinian theories of dialogicity and carnivalization and suggests ways in which inter-human otherness can function as a conjoining difference between the “Wholly Other” and “other-wise” humans.

"Preaching as a Carnivalesque Dialogue - between the 'Wholly Other' and 'Other-Wise' Listeners" explores the genre of preaching in light of theories of dialogicity and carnivalization developed by Mikhail Bakhtin. The Bakhtinian approach to preaching evokes ways in which historical acts and embodied experiences are transcribed in literary genres. The theories of carnivalization manifest the dynamic, other-oriented, interaction between reflexive texts and embodied acts. Experiences of otherness and difference play a central role in human communication as well as in theological descriptions of the relationship between God and humans. One of the central aims of this book is to explore ways in which 'others', different from the designated preacher, influence contemporary preaching practices and in that sense can be seen as co-authors. As material for this investigation the book provides analyses of four theologians who have contributed significantly to contemporary homiletical developments, namely those of the American homileticians Charles Campbell, John S. McClure, and James H. Harris and the Danish Systematic Theologian, Svend Bjerg. The homiletical analyses lead to the thesis, that the dialogical encounter between author, and addressees, analyzer and analyzed, is one of the conditions of interpretation and communication rather than a disturbance. The communication theoretical and practical theological analyses are discussed in light of Kierkegaard`s, Barth`s and Jüngel's emphasis on the 'qualitative difference' between God and humans. These concluding reflections suggest ways in which inter-human otherness can function as a dynamically conjoining rather than mutually exclusive difference between God as the 'Wholly Other' and 'other-wise' humans.