Johannes N Vorster | University of South Africa (original) (raw)

Papers by Johannes N Vorster

Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, Jan 12, 2015

Die probleem van representasionalisme en die moont likhede van retoriek(e) van die lyf ter oorweg... more Die probleem van representasionalisme en die moont likhede van retoriek(e) van die lyf ter oorweging vir ŉ gesonde gemeenskap The problem of representationalism and the possibilities of rhetoric(s) of the body for consideration of a healthy community

Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, 2015

Neotestamentica, Nov 1, 1989

Taking the problem of the resurrection faith as point of departure an attempt is made to construc... more Taking the problem of the resurrection faith as point of departure an attempt is made to construct the rhetorical situation of 1 Corinthians 15. It is argued that when the ""implied readers"" are distinguished from the ""deniers"" of the resurrection, the rhetorical problem concerns a crisis in loyalty. The implied readers are confronted with deciding between the authoritative, apostolic kerygma of Paul on the one hand, and the i?½kerygmai?½ of the deniers on the other hand. The problem of the deceased is solved for the implied readers by means of sequential argumentation in which the pragmatic argument and the device of stages play an important role.

Introduction: the omnipotence of natural selection for Darwinian Dawkins and the self-imposed imp... more Introduction: the omnipotence of natural selection for Darwinian Dawkins and the self-imposed impotence of Burkeian terministic screens

Neotestamentica, Dec 1, 1995

When rhetoric is informed by the sophistic tradition, it becomes dislodged from foundationalistic... more When rhetoric is informed by the sophistic tradition, it becomes dislodged from foundationalistic moorings. It is argued that a rhetorical approach, using categories such as human motivation, language as symbolic action and context, creates a sensitivity for the historical moment.

Religion and Theology, 1994

In the current uncertainty prevailing in the social and human sciences, rhetoric has achieved epi... more In the current uncertainty prevailing in the social and human sciences, rhetoric has achieved epistemic status. The article proposes that a radical theory of rhetoric, following in the wake of Kenneth Burke and emphasising rhetoric as the creation and use of symbols to induce cooperation, can be of value to studies in religion.

In conversation with the contributors to this volume, it is indicated what the regulatory body is... more In conversation with the contributors to this volume, it is indicated what the regulatory body is, and how the regulatory body functions as the social configuration of meaning and as a site of power relations, not only constituting bodies, but also as the context in which these constituted bodies reconstitute and reproduce themselves. Several rhetorical strategies, such as the operation of the hierarchic principle, the division between "insiders" and "outsiders," and the notion of dissociation in the re-definition of cultural practices have come to light.

Old Testament essays, 2006

Abstract: Within certain Feminist interpretations of Woman Wisdom, the strategy of ambiguity is c... more Abstract: Within certain Feminist interpretations of Woman Wisdom, the strategy of ambiguity is consistently used to affect both the possibilities of liberation and identification from and with Wisdom material. Taking into account that the strategy of ambiguity may function not only ...

Neotestamentica, Mar 1, 1992

From the perspective of modern rhetoric, this article proposes the technique of dissociation as a... more From the perspective of modern rhetoric, this article proposes the technique of dissociation as an alternative to approaches in which the antithesis featured predominantly. The technique of dissociation is applied, not only to the person of Paul, but also to the related question of what being a real Jew entails. It is indicated that the technique of dissociation should be seen in relationship to the pragmatic argument. Seen from this perspective, the letter to the Galatians is an attempt at the confirmation of status.

Religion and Theology, 1999

The role of religious language in the activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an... more The role of religious language in the activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is analysed in this study. The (Christian) religious rhetoric is a limiting factor with regard to the possibilities and/or contribution of the TRC by fashioning a dichotomising discourse and terminology. It also imposes constraints, visible in the TRC&amp;#39;s dealings with concepts such as truth, responsibility and causation. This discourse is, furthermore, an assistant to a formalistic way of arguing about history and humanity, which problematises the plurality and heterogeneity of our society.

Neotestamentica, 1997

The objective of this article is to consider the body as a means through which access may be, gai... more The objective of this article is to consider the body as a means through which access may be, gained into a better understanding of a culture and the processes involved in the formation and changes within cultures. Owing to the rhetoricity of the body, the body may function as an agent of change. This point of departure is illustrated by examples from early Christianity and from the official journal of the Dutch Reformed Church during 1991-1995.

Tydskrif vir geesteswetenskappe, Dec 1, 2015

Religion and Theology, 2010

Utilising insights from Jonathan Z. Smith, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler, it... more Utilising insights from Jonathan Z. Smith, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler, it is argued that the academic study of religion has shifted from a rhetoric of autonomy to a rhetoric of spatiality. If religion as object of enquiry is seen as discursive practice, it cannot be reduced to a particular space which contributes to the problematisation of any definition thereof. On the other hand, as discursive practice it is constituted by a variety of different spaces, thereby expanding the scope of the scholar of religion. For that reason appropriating the notion public intellectual as characterisation of an alternative approach to the academic study of religion is proposed.

Verbum Et Ecclesia, Aug 11, 2001

A political technology of the early Christian martyr's pained body The early Christian martyr is ... more A political technology of the early Christian martyr's pained body The early Christian martyr is usually only seen in terms of testimony or witness. It is argued that a political technology of the body enables us to see the manner in which the pained body of the early Christian martyr functioned as a space upon which political strategies for the empowerment of interested parties were enacted.

Scriptura : international journal of bible, religion and theology in southern Africa, Jun 12, 2013

Preface his volume consists of selected and approved Proceedings from the 8 th International Conf... more Preface his volume consists of selected and approved Proceedings from the 8 th International Conference on Rhetoric and Scriptures. It continues a proud tradition which originated in 1992 in Heidelberg, Germany. Tom Olbricht explains that in 1990 it occurred to me that while Americans interested in rhetorical analysis met with some frequency, non international conferences of rhetorical specialists had convened. Eventually with the support of Wuellner and Hester, the decision was made to hold the conference at Pepperdine University's Moore Haus in Heidelberg in July of 1992' 1 (Porter and Olbricht 1993, 9). The second conference took place in South Africa in 1994 and was, at least from a South African perspective, a huge success. Ten years later and the tradition still continues. Small scale, expertise enterprises do not always survive for a long period in the academic world. We owe it to the commitment of people such as Tom Olbricht, Jim Hester, Vernon Robbins and Wilhelm Wuellner that this tradition continued. Not only is the publication of these papers a tribute to these scholars, not only do the contributors want to commemorate the performance of Wilhelm Wuellner-who made an immense contribution to disclose the world of Rhetoric to those interested in the academic study of religion-and not only do we want to continue this tradition, but we also hope to present a publication that would do this tradition proud and would also effect an appropriate continuation. South African bodies are political bodies. A physiology as innocent and as inevitable as skin colour has been infused with a politicality dividing the population of this country, empowering some to act with an attitude, and disfranchising others to have neither attitude nor self-respect. With a different type of democracy emerging in 1994, South Africans were for the first time introduced or confronted with the notion of human rights. And yes, we have hoped that with a Constitution which ranks in the league of the most prominent democracies in the world, that the dawn of 'equality' will also dismiss difference. That did not happen, and we know now, that it will not happen and neither do we desire it to happen, because we have learnt not only to live with difference but also to appreciate difference, not only to accommodate or tolerate but to celebrate difference. And yet, our democracy is very fragile, and our Constitution is no magic wand dispelling racism, gender inequalities, ageism and, low and behold, forms of reversed Apartheid. A politics of the body which has been formed for three centuries in South Africa and even for a much longer time outside our borders, still determines our interaction and religious discourses still perpetuate a politics of the body which enhances and promotes discrimination. Since both body politics and religious discourses are constituted by rhetorical practices, rhetoric may help us in understanding the mechanisms that structured them, whether that be in the realm of early Christianity or in Japanese religions. To help us, not only to understand, not only to subvert and expose, but also to create a body politics appropriate to our time and spaces, this volume is published under the theme: The Rhetoric(s) of Body Politics and Religious Discourses. As will be seen in the introductory article as well as in the arrangement of articles it was indeed possible to identify certain types of rhetoric. However, although it was possible to

Religion and Theology, 2008

The fusion of two sexes into one body has often been interpreted as symbolising humankind&#39... more The fusion of two sexes into one body has often been interpreted as symbolising humankind's yearning for unity, harmony and equality. Studies of early Christianity have 'discovered' in the imagery of the androgynous being a possibility for resisting the prevailing phallocratic Graeco-Roman culture, thereby portraying the first steps toward an egalitarian community. This article contests this 'discovery' and it is argued that the imagery of androgyny represents not a harmonious utopian future, but rather a discordant, chaotic present. As a matter of fact, the imagery of the androgyny represents phallogocentric discourses, using the notion of the deformed male body as strategy for its maintenance and reproduction.

Abstract: A debate on homosexual or gay relations which in some way or the other refers to Biblic... more Abstract: A debate on homosexual or gay relations which in some way or the other refers to Biblical discourses must recognise how early Christian sexual practices were embedded in Graeco-Roman constructions of male same-sex. In continuity with a constructivist approach, it is argued ...

In this essay I argue that a rhetoric of the body exposes the all-pervasiveness of the hierarchic... more In this essay I argue that a rhetoric of the body exposes the all-pervasiveness of the hierarchical principle as it manifested itself in the Graeco-Roman world. The parts of the ancient body were constructed with the fabrics of the social body. Implications for an engendered interpretation of Biblical writings are indicated and demonstrated via an analysis of selected passages from the Pauline letters.

Scriptura : international journal of bible, religion and theology in southern Africa, Jun 1, 2016

Is there a possibility to critically interrogate the hegemony of the type of historical approache... more Is there a possibility to critically interrogate the hegemony of the type of historical approaches to the academic study of the Bible currently governing and regulating Biblical Studies? Against the background of inquiring how Biblical Studies can be effectively transformed, the biblical critic as public intellectual is submitted. The notion of public intellectual, however, is by no means an uncontested category and could replicate what its deployment would endeavour to subvert. The objective of this article is therefore primarily to problematise the notion of the public intellectual within a logic of representationalism with identity as organising principle. It is instead argued that the public intellectual be seen as a subjectivity engendered by an ethos of discursive practices emerging from difference. Utilising projects that theorise the critical rhetor and the public intellectual, I probe the possibility that the biblical critic likewise be seen as public intellectual, engendered by a peculiar ethos produced by its dispersion through discursive practices. This article constitutes a first part specifically problematising and theorising the notion of public intellectual and problematising the current identity of the biblical scholar.