Ironic Authority
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IRONIC AUTHORITY: A Rhetorical Critical Analysis of the Stability of Irony in the Fourth Gospel Passion Narrative Kevin W. Sarlow MTh, BTh, Dip Theol © March 2017 The Department of Theology, The School of Humanities and Creative Arts, The Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law, Flinders University, South Australia. This thesis is submitted to Flinders University to fulfil the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. i For Jenn, Nath, Loz and Em and their families ii - iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ vii DECLARATION ...................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... ix ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES AND DIAGRAMS ....................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 The Research Topic: Ironic Authority .......................................................................... 1 Contextualising the Thesis ............................................................................................ 2 The Research Question ....................................................................................................... 2 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 5 Rationale for this study ................................................................................................. 5 Why ‘Perplexing Irony’ / ‘Perplexing Rhetoric’? ......................................................... 6 Disparity of Meaning .................................................................................................... 6 Outline of the Chapters of this Thesis ........................................................................... 7 Significance of This Research ....................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER ONE: PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS .................................................. 9 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 9 Scope and Limits of This Research ............................................................................... 9 Authorship, Date, and Origin of the Fourth Gospel .................................................... 12 Presuppositions ........................................................................................................... 14 The “Jews” in the Fourth Gospel ................................................................................ 18 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW OF (i) IRONY THEORY AND (ii) FOURTH GOSPEL IRONY ........................................................................................ 23 (i) LITERATURE REVIEW OF IRONY THEORY .................................................. 23 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 23 Irony Theory ................................................................................................................ 23 Ancient Greek Playwrights & Their Use of Irony ............................................................ 25 Premodern Approach to Irony .......................................................................................... 28 Old Testament Irony: A Precedent for Fourth Gospel Irony ............................................ 29 Contemporary Approaches to Irony.................................................................................. 33 (ii) LITERATURE REVIEW OF FOURTH GOSPEL IRONY ................................. 39 Fourth Gospel Analysis ............................................................................................... 41 Comedy & Irony in the Fourth Gospel ............................................................................. 41 Insider / Outsider .............................................................................................................. 43 Significant Johannine Commentators & Scholars ............................................................ 46 Literary Devices in the Fourth Gospel .............................................................................. 48 Scholarship on Stable Fourth Gospel Irony / Rhetoric ..................................................... 55 Scholarship on Unstable Fourth Gospel Irony / Rhetoric ................................................. 59 Conclusion................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER THREE: COVERT IRONY THEORY .................................................. 64 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 64 Various Forms of Irony Identified .............................................................................. 67 Intentional Irony .......................................................................................................... 67 The Five Key Aspects of Irony Theory ....................................................................... 70 Discerning Unintended Unstable Irony ....................................................................... 72 iv Discerning Intended Unstable Irony ........................................................................... 75 Stable-Local-Covert Ironies ........................................................................................ 78 Unstable-Local-Covert Ironies .................................................................................... 79 Biblical Irony with Instability ..................................................................................... 86 Narrative Criticism ...................................................................................................... 86 Biblical Narrative and Perplexing Irony ..................................................................... 87 Joseph ............................................................................................................................... 88 Job ..................................................................................................................................... 90 Jonah ................................................................................................................................. 92 The Categories of Irony .............................................................................................. 96 Verbal Irony ...................................................................................................................... 97 Situational Irony ............................................................................................................. 102 Dramatic Irony ................................................................................................................ 107 Conclusion................................................................................................................. 112 CHAPTER FOUR: A SUITABLE METHODOLOGY FOR ANALYSIS OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL PASSION NARRATIVE......................................................... 114 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 114 Rhetorical Criticism .................................................................................................. 114 The Application of Kennedy’s Rhetorical Methodology .......................................... 118 Step One .......................................................................................................................... 118 Step Two ......................................................................................................................... 123 Step Three ....................................................................................................................... 128 Step Four ......................................................................................................................... 130 Step Five ......................................................................................................................... 131 Conclusion................................................................................................................. 132 CHAPTER FIVE: THE ANALYSIS OF JOHN 18:1–19:16a: AN EXAMPLE OF SUSTAINED IRONY ................................................................................................. 134 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 134 The Trial Narrative .................................................................................................... 135 18:1-11 ............................................................................................................................ 136 The Analysis.............................................................................................................. 136 18:12-14