Divining the Woman of Endor: African Culture, Postcolonial Hermeneutics, and the Politics of Biblical Translation

Description

An examination of the language of divination in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in 1 Samuel 28:3-25-the oft-called “Witch of Endor” passage. Kiboko contends that much of the vocabulary of divination in this passage and beyond has been mistranslated in authorized English and other translations used in Africa and in scholarly writings. Kiboko argues that the woman of Endor is not a witch. The woman of Endor is, rather, a diviner, much like other ancient Near Eastern and modern African diviners. She resists an inner-biblical conquest theology and a monologic authoritarian view of divination to assist King Saul by various means, including invoking the spirit of a departed person, Samuel. Kiboko carries out a Hebrew word-study shaped by the theories of Mikhail M. Bakhtin regarding the utterance, heteroglossia, and dialogism in order to understand the designative, connotative, emotive, and associative meanings of the many divinatory terms in the Hebrew Bible. She then examines 1 Samuel 28 and a number of prior translations thereof, using the ideological framework of African-feminist-postcolonial biblical interpreters and translation theories to uncover the hidden ideology or transcript of these translations. Finally, using African contextual/cultural hermeneutics and cross-cultural translation theory, Kiboko offers new English, French, and Kisanga translations of this passage that are both faithful to the original text and more appropriate to an inculturated-liberation African Christian hermeneutic, theology, and praxis. Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Prologue: A Man-Woman of the Disanga Reads the Bible from a Postcolonial Place Chapter 1. Introduction: Translating Divination and Crossing the Disanga of Life and the Beyond 1. Exploring the Terrain of the Project 2. The Textual Streams of the Project 3. The Methodological Transports of the Project 4. The Riches to Be Gained from the Project 5. Charting the Course of the Project Chapter 2. Cross-Dressing Method: Translation at the Disanga of Theory 1. A Brief Introduction to Biblical Translation Theory, Methods, and Goals 2. Understanding the Hebrew Text Through a Bakhtinian Word Study 3. Unmasking Ideology in Translation Through Ideological Criticism 4. Making an African Feminist Translation through African Contextual/Cultural Hermeneutics and Cross-Cultural Translation Theory Chapter 3. Locating a Path Through the Jungle of Divination: Divination, Witchcraft, and Ideology in the Ancient Near East, Europe, and Africa 1. Divination and Witchcraft in the Ancient Near East 2. Magic, Divination, and Witchcraft in Christian Europe 3. Divination and Witchcraft in the Context of the Basanga Way of Life Chapter 4. Crossing the Disanga of Life and the Beyond in the Hebrew Bible: A Bakhtinian Word Study of the Language of Divination Part I: Terms in Deuteronomy 18:10–11 1. The Ritual of שאב ותבו ונב ריבעמ 2. The Diviners: םימסק םסק, ןנועמ, שחנמ, ףשכמ, and רבה רבח a. םימסק םסק b. ןנועמ c. שחנמ d. ףסכמ e. רבח רבח 3. A Thaumaturgic Procedure: ינעדיו בוא לאש Part II: The Intermediaries: בוא, ינעדי, בוא תלעב תשא and םיהלא and Their Actions 1. בוא and ינעדי 2. םיתמה־לא שרד Part III: A Bonus: םכח and Its Function 1. םכח in the Torah 2. םכח in Prophetic Material 3. םכח in the Writings 4. A Bakhtinian Summary Chapter 5. The Literary Context: Reading 1 Samuel Through a Feminist Musanga Contextual/Cultural Lens Chapter 6. 1 Samuel 28 at the Disanga: Three Inculturated Translations for the African Church Chapter 7. Meeting at the Disanga of Divination: Conclusions and Implications Epilogue: Lessons Learned at the Disanga Bibliography Index of References Index of Authors