DOCSLIB.ORG

The Acts of Paul and Thecla Ecclesial, Social and Political Context

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Acts of Paul and Thecla Ecclesial, Social and Political Context Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 92/3 (2016) 355-380. doi: 10.2143/ETL.92.3.3170052 © 2016 by Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses. All rights reserved. The Acts of Paul and Thecla Ecclesial, Social and Political Context Korinna ZAMFIR Babes-Bolyai University – Stellenbosch University Finding the community behind a text is a controversial, yet provoking endeavour. This paper attempts to carry out such a task, exploring the community and the world behind the Acts of Paul and Thecla [APTh]. Much work has been done on the genre, composition, ascetic tenets of the writing, its relevance for recovering women’s roles in the early church. These topics will not be rehearsed here, but I wish to reassess the ecclesial and socio-political background of the writing, by gathering clues about its structure, practices and political environment. Obviously, due to the genre, to the novelistic and hagiographic features of the work and the fictitious nature of the narrative, it is highly difficult to assess these matters. How- ever, with some caution we may be able to find some answers to these questions, on the assumption that the writing reflects practices that had to be known by the author and the readers. As Marguerat and Rebell remarked, although Zola’s novels are fiction, they still offer a glimpse into the social realities of the time1. The APTh also reflect realities of the com- munity and its social environment, Roman customs and judicial practices, the situation of Christians in this context, and even invoke historical char- acters, to mention only a few aspects. Much earlier, William Ramsay intended to recover the historical data behind the early form of the narrative2. My aims are more modest. I do not wish to prove the essential historical reliability of the Thecla-story, nor to reconstruct the earliest stratum behind the text. Re-examining the ecclesial and social realities mirrored by the writing I wish to make some suggestions about the situation of the community and the evolution of 1. D. MARGUERAT – W. REBELL, Les Actes de Paul: Un portrait inhabituel de l’Apôtre, in J.-D. KAESTLI – D. MARGUERAT (eds.), Le mystère apocryphe: Introduction à une ­littérature méconnue (Essais bibliques, 26), Genève, Labor et Fides, 22007, 137-154, p. 151: the Germinal reflects the social realities related to the mining industry of the late 19th century. 2. W.M. RAMSAY, The Church in the Roman Empire before A.D. 170, New York – Lon- don, Hodder & Stoughton, 31893, 375-428. He argues that a first century tale with many historical elements was later edited on several occasions, with several changes (e.g. in terms of location, Pisidian Antioch was replaced with Syrian Antioch). He attempts to reconstruct the original, simple tale of Thecla, dated to the rule of Claudius and Nero (ca. 50-64), eliminating the details which he finds inconsistent with historical conditions. 356 k. zamfir the text. The second-century work seems to contain indeed an earlier layer that was gradually re-edited. But the evidence is liable to another reading as well, attesting the diversity of second century Christian com- munities. (Perhaps the two readings are not mutually exclusive.) I offer no clear-cut answer to these questions, but I raise some issues for further consideration. I. ECCLESIAL BACkGROUND 1. Ecclesial Structures and Roles Ecclesial structures are conspicuously absent from the APTh. Paul is an itinerant missionary, rather a preacher than a founder of communities engaged in settling local matters, as we see him in the epistles or the canonical Acts. Communities seem to be limited to simple household structures3. In Iconium, the house of Onesiphorus4 is the place of teaching and worship / Eucharistic meal (3.5). Paul proclaims here the beatitudes and preaches the word of God about enkrateia. The (core of the) com- munity seems to be the household of Onesiphorus, with the addition of Paul and Thecla, and possibly converts from those young women and men who heed to this preaching (3.7, 3.9), although the formula ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐν τῷ Ὀνησιφόρου οἴκῳ (3.7) might allude to a broader community. In Antioch, the household of Tryphaena plays a central role. Again, this is the place of preaching: Thecla teaches, and Tryphaena embraces Christian faith with her (female?) slaves (39/4.14)5. Tryphaena’s household becomes thus a household community6. Later on, when Thecla encounters Paul in Myra, he appears to be based in the house of Hermias (41/4.16). 3. On households in the APTh: H. SANCHEz, Paulus nachfolgen – aber wie? Die Bedeu- tung des Hauses in den Theklaakten, in M. EBNER (ed.), Aus Liebe zu Paulus? Die Akte Thekla neu aufgerollt (Stuttgarter Bibelstudien, 206), Stuttgart, Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2005, 124-138. 4. J. BARRIER argues that Onesiphorus is not a resident of Iconium, but Paul’s itinerant co-worker, who happens to be there to plant a church and expects Paul: The Acts of Paul and Thecla: A Critical Introduction and Commentary (WUNT, II.270), Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2009, p. 72. The arguments are taken from 2 Tim 1,16; 4,19, but as the epistle is fictitious (seemingly in Barrier’s view, too), and even there the idea that Onesiphorus is an itinerant co-worker who resides in various cities is one possible, but not compelling reading, the case is hardly convincing. In 1,16 πολλάκις does not need to refer to different towns. 1,18 and 2,19 envisage him in Ephesus. His visiting Paul in Rome (1,17) does not make him an itinerant co-worker. 5. It is impossible to know whether τῶν παιδικῶν refers to men and women or only women (ibid., p. 177). That is why we cannot know whether this is envisaged as an all-female household. 6. Ibid., p. 178. the acts oF paul aNd thecla 357 Remarkably, the writing does not mention ecclesial offices. As Dennis MacDonald puts it, the community is quite democratic7. This is at odds with earlier writings, and even with 3 Cor, which mentions deacons and presbyters. The absence is all the more conspicuous as the APTh were allegedly written by a presbyter (Tert., Bapt. 17). The writing emphasises only the authority of Paul and Thecla, both itinerant teachers. Even Paul is a stylised, almost superhuman character (at least in Iconium)8, not the flesh and blood Paul we find in his letters. Martin Ebner suggested that teaching and leadership are conceived as separate attributions, the first assigned to itinerant preachers, the sec- ond to heads of households9. But it seems to me that authority is here essentially charismatic and bound to ascetic itinerant preachers, rather than resident officials. In the end, Onesiphorus is an entirely subordi- nate character, with little “leadership” role. Apparently even his chil- dren would starve, if it were not for Paul to take the initiative of buying bread (3.25). Is this because a later redaction reshaped Onesiphorus to subordinate him to Paul? Or is it because in an ascetic community, ascetic, charismatic teachers, not local heads of households hold the authority? It is also surprising that in a charismatic community we find no refer- ence to prophets, to inspired speech (nor is the Spirit mentioned, for that matter10, not even in Thecla’s confession of faith, 4.12, where she mentions believing in God and his son). In the broader context of the work (the farewell scene in APl 12) we encounter prophetic figures like Cleobius and Myrte, who foretell the fate of Paul inspired by the Spirit, but nothing of that kind is found in the APTh. Whether the APTh reflect 7. D.R. MACDONALD, The Legend and the Apostle: The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon, Philadelphia, PA, Westminster, 1983, p. 69. 8. He is envisaged as a quasi-angelic being and an embodiment of Jesus. Ann G. BROCk, Genre of the Acts of Paul: One Tradition Enhancing Another, in Apocrypha 5 (1994) 119-136, pp. 122-123: Paul acquires an almost “superhuman status”; D. MARGUERAT, who emphasises the hieratic character of Paul: The Acts of Paul and the Canonical Acts: A Phenomenon of Rereading, in Semeia 80 (1997) 169-184, pp. 179-181. 9. M. EBNER, Gemeindestrukturen in Exempeln: Eine eindeutig frauenfreundliche­ Kom- promisslösung, in ID., Aus Liebe zu Paulus? (n. 3), 180-193, p. 183. 10. D.E. SMITH, The Canonical Function of Acts: A Comparative Analysis, Collegeville, MN, Liturgical Press, 2002, p. 111; except for Thecla’s final prayer in the 12th-century- Codex Baroccianus Graecus 180 (ed. J.E. GRABE), cf. J.K. ELLIOTT, The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993; 22005, p. 373. Pace W. RORDORF, Was wissen wir über Plan und Absicht der Paulusakten?, in D. PApANDREOU – W.A. BIENERT – K. SCHÄFER- DIEk (eds.), Oecumenica et Patristica: Festschrift für Wilhelm Schneemelcher zum 75. Geburts­ tag, Stuttgart, Kohlhammer, 1989, 71-82, p. 76, claiming the enormous role of the Holy Spirit all through the AP and invoking the visions of Thecla, but the text never refers to the Spirit as inducer of the visions. 358 k. zamfir indeed a debate with Montanism, as suggested by Rordorf, is difficult to say11. A female teacher is one of the most notable features of the writing. Thecla teaches already after her baptism (4.9), before being “officially” commissioned by Paul (41/4.16). Her teaching activity is efficient: she converts the household of Queen Tryphaena. The concluding summary (she enlightened many with the word of God; 43 /4.18) indicates the same. To the author (and probably the implied readers) this role is natural for an ascetic woman whose faith(fullness) has been tested.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Outlaw: Wilderness and Exile in Old and Middle
    THE ‘BESTLI’ OUTLAW: WILDERNESS AND EXILE IN OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Sarah Michelle Haughey August 2011 © 2011 Sarah Michelle Haughey THE ‘BESTLI’ OUTLAW: WILDERNESS AND EXILE IN OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE Sarah Michelle Haughey, Ph. D. Cornell University 2011 This dissertation, The ‘Bestli’ Outlaw: Wilderness and Exile in Old and Middle English Literature explores the reasons for the survival of the beast-like outlaw, a transgressive figure who highlights tensions in normative definitions of human and natural, which came to represent both the fears and the desires of a people in a state of constant negotiation with the land they inhabited. Although the outlaw’s shelter in the wilderness changed dramatically from the dense and menacing forests of Anglo-Saxon England to the bright, known, and mapped greenwood of the late outlaw romances and ballads, the outlaw remained strongly animalistic, other, and liminal, in strong contrast to premodern notions of what it meant to be human and civilized. I argue that outlaw narratives become particularly popular and poignant at moments of national political and ecological crisis—as they did during the Viking attacks of the Anglo-Saxon period, the epoch of intense natural change following the Norman Conquest, and the beginning of the market revolution at the end of the Middle Ages. Figures like the Anglo-Saxon resistance fighter Hereward, the exiled Marcher lord Fulk Fitz Waryn, and the brutal yet courtly Gamelyn and Robin Hood, represent a lost England imagined as pristine and forested.
    [Show full text]
  • Polemon's Contribution to the Periegetic Literature of the II Century
    MARIACHIARA ANGELUCCI Polemon’s contribution to the periegetic literature of the II century B.C. The cultural genesis of Polemon’s periegetic writings The genre of periegetic literature began properly only in the Hellenistic age, which was characterized by a considerable increase in interest in the field of history and antiquary, but its origins can be traced back to the Ionian literature of Periploi and travels. Among the Ionians of Asia Minor it is undoubtedly worth mentioning Hecataeus of Miletus, who wrote a Περίοδος Γῆς in two books, in which he describes the coasts of the Mediterranean and Black Sea with Gibraltar as the point of departure, adding for each region information about what we could call paradoxa, customs and traditions of the inhabitants. It was probably in the Hellenistic age that his work was given the title Περιήγησις, a term that came to be used from this period onwards to indicate the topographic description of a land, enriched with information of a historical and antiquarian nature. In classical times it was seldom used and tended to mean “shape, profile”, as the verb περιηγεῖσθαι meant “to mark the outline” rather than “to guide”.1 One of the best-known authors in the periegetic literature of the Hellenistic age is Polemon of Ilion, an important and polyhedric personality who in addition to his periegetic writings also composed polemical writings and epistles among others. Unfortunately only about a hundred fragments have come down to us, thirty-eight of which belong to the periegetic writings and some of them are so limited that it is difficult to establish the real range and significance of his works.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    Index Note : Geographical landmarks are listed under the proper name itself: for “Cape Sepias” or “Mt. Athos” see “Sepias” or “Athos.” When a people and a toponym share the same base, see under the toponym: for “Thessalians” see “Thessaly.” Romans are listed according to the nomen, i.e. C. Julius Caesar. With places or people mentioned once only, discretion has been used. Abdera 278 Aeaces II 110, 147 Abydus 222, 231 A egae 272–273 Acanthus 85, 207–208, 246 Aegina 101, 152, 157–158, 187–189, Acarnania 15, 189, 202, 204, 206, 251, 191, 200 347, 391, 393 Aegium 377, 389 Achaia 43, 54, 64 ; Peloponnesian Aegospotami 7, 220, 224, 228 Achaia, Achaian League 9–10, 12–13, Aemilius Paullus, L. 399, 404 54–56, 63, 70, 90, 250, 265, 283, 371, Aeolis 16–17, 55, 63, 145, 233 375–380, 388–390, 393, 397–399, 404, Aeschines 281, 285, 288 410 ; Phthiotic Achaia 16, 54, 279, Aeschylus 156, 163, 179 286 Aetoli Erxadieis 98–101 Achaian War 410 Aetolia, Aetolian League 12, 15, 70, Achaius 382–383, 385, 401 204, 250, 325, 329, 342, 347–348, Acilius Glabrio, M. 402 376, 378–380, 387, 390–391, 393, Acragas 119, COPYRIGHTED165, 259–261, 263, 266, 39MATERIAL6–397, 401–404 352–354, 358–359 Agariste 113, 117 Acrocorinth 377, 388–389 Agathocles (Lysimachus ’ son) 343, 345 ; Acrotatus 352, 355 (King of Sicily) 352–355, 358–359; Actium 410, 425 (King of Bactria) 413–414 Ada 297 Agelaus 391, 410 A History of Greece: 1300 to 30 BC, First Edition. Victor Parker.
    [Show full text]
  • Durham E-Theses
    Durham E-Theses A study of the client kings in the early Roman period Everatt, J. D. How to cite: Everatt, J. D. (1972) A study of the client kings in the early Roman period, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10140/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk .UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM Department of Classics .A STUDY OF THE CLIENT KINSS IN THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE J_. D. EVERATT M.A. Thesis, 1972. M.A. Thesis Abstract. J. D. Everatt, B.A. Hatfield College. A Study of the Client Kings in the early Roman Empire When the city-state of Rome began to exert her influence throughout the Mediterranean, the ruling classes developed friendships and alliances with the rulers of the various kingdoms with whom contact was made.
    [Show full text]
  • Durham E-Theses
    Durham E-Theses A study of the client kings in the early Roman period Everatt, J. D. How to cite: Everatt, J. D. (1972) A study of the client kings in the early Roman period, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10140/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk .UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM Department of Classics .A STUDY OF THE CLIENT KINSS IN THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE J_. D. EVERATT M.A. Thesis, 1972. M.A. Thesis Abstract. J. D. Everatt, B.A. Hatfield College. A Study of the Client Kings in the early Roman Empire When the city-state of Rome began to exert her influence throughout the Mediterranean, the ruling classes developed friendships and alliances with the rulers of the various kingdoms with whom contact was made.
    [Show full text]
  • Caste & Untouchability
    Paggi fr. Luigi s.x. * * * * * * * * Caste & untouchability Pro Manuscripto Title: Caste & untouchability. A study-research paper in the Indian Subcontinent Authored by: Paggi fr. Luigi sx Edited by: Jo Ellen Fuller- 2002 Photographs by: Angelo fr. Costalonga sx Printed by: “Museo d’Arte Cinese ed Etnografico di Parma” - 2005 © 2005 Museo d’Arte Cinese ed Etnografico © Paggi fr. Luigi sx A few years ago, my confreres (Xaverian Missionaries working in Bangladesh) requested that I conduct a four-day course on caste and untouchability. Probably, I benefited as much from teaching the course as my student-confreres did since the process helped me crystallize my ideas about Hinduism and the ramifications of certain aspects of this religion upon the cultures of the subcontinent. From time to time, I am invited to different places to deliver lectures on these two topics. I usually accept these invitations because I am convinced that those who would like to do something to change the miserable lot of so many poor people living in the Indian Subcontinent must be knowledgeable about the caste system and untouchability. People need to be aware of the negative effect and the impact of these two social evils regarding the abject misery and poverty of those who are at the bot- tom of the greater society. It seems that people living in the Indian Subcontinent , no matter which reli- gion they belong to, are still affected (consciously or unconsciously) by these as- pects of Hinduism that have seeped into other religions as well. In order to prepare myself for the task of lecturing (on caste and untoucha- bility), I read and studied many books, magazines and articles on these two evil institutions of Hinduism, which have affected the social life of most of the people living in the Indian Subcontinent.
    [Show full text]
  • International Law and Abolition of the Death Penalty William A
    Washington and Lee Law Review Volume 55 | Issue 3 Article 10 Summer 6-1-1998 International Law and Abolition of the Death Penalty William A. Schabas Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr Part of the Human Rights Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation William A. Schabas, International Law and Abolition of the Death Penalty, 55 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 797 (1998), https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr/vol55/iss3/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington and Lee Law Review at Washington & Lee University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington and Lee Law Review by an authorized editor of Washington & Lee University School of Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. International Law and Abolition of the Death Penalty William A. Schabas* I Introduction The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration), adopted December 10, 1948, proclaimed that "[e]veryone has the right to life" and "[n]o one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."' The same approach was taken in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, adopted May 4, 1948.2 At the time, the vast majority of United Nations Member States still employed capital punishment. Moreover, the death penalty was also recognized as an appropriate penalty for major war criminals and was imposed by the postwar tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo.' When the Universal Declaration's pro- visions were transformed into treaty law in universal and regional instruments, the death penalty was specifically mentioned as a form of exception to the right to life.4 Fifty years later, as we commemorate the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the compatibility of the death * M.A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Unauthorized Hagiography of Edward W. Hawkins
    GOOD NIGHT, LADIES: THE UNAUTHORIZED HAGIOGRAPHY OF EDWARD W. HAWKINS A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the College of English Morehead State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in English by William Randolph Dozier 3 May 1997 Accepted by the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities, Mo r ehead State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in English Degr ee . Master' s Committee : Date GOOD NIGHT , LADIES: THE UNAUTHORIZED HAGIOGRAPHY OF EDWARD W. HAWKINS William Randolph Dozier, M. A. Morehead State University , 1997 Director of Thesis: 100% appr opriated texts have been aligned to form an author -free narrative-whole of rising and falling action which details the hanging of the outlaw Edward W. Hawkins in Estill County, Kentucky, on 29 May 1857 . Spanning 140 year s, the various documents, news accounts , ballads, and excerpts reconstitute Hawkins, a creature of dream, myth, and histor y . Hawkins is a type of Byronic hero, and the narrative traces his evolution from wanted fugitive to condemned prisoner to redeemed sinner . The competing texts of this assemblage differ in tone and particulars, thus creating a dynamic tension that pushes the narrative forward. The "hagiography" is an assault on the authority of the text, sacred and profane , and its message is simple : words arise from words. Accepted by: 1 invocation Oh, young reader, suffer me to exhort you to read the following pages with care and attention; they may serve you as a beacon by which you may escape the wretched condition which I am now in--incarcerated in the walls of a dungeon, loaded with chains and fetters, with the grim images of my murdered fellow-men haunting me day and night; and soon, oh! very soon, to be taken to the gallows, and there, in the spring season of my life, to be hurled into the presence of an offended God, who cannot look upon sin with the least allowance.
    [Show full text]
  • Tolerant Criminal Law of Rome” in the Light of Legal and Rhetorical Sources
    UWM Studia Prawnoustrojowe 25 189 2014 Artyku³y Przemys³aw Kubiak Katedra Prawa Rzymskiego Wydzia³ Prawa i Administracji Uniwersytetu £ódzkiego Some remarks on tolerant criminal law of Rome in the light of legal and rhetorical sources Introduction Roman criminal law, as majority of ancient legal systems, is commonly considered cruel and intolerant. Most of these negative views is based on the fact that the Romans created and used a great variety of painful and severe penalties, very often accompanied by different kinds of torture or disgrace1. Although such opinions derive from legal and literary sources, occasionally in their context a very important factor seems to be missing. Sometimes in the process of evaluation of foreign or historical legal systems researchers make a mistake and use modern standards, both legal and moral, and from this point of view they proclaim their statements. This incorrect attitude may lead to ascertainment that no legal system before 20th century should be judged positively in this aspect. However, the goal of this paper is not to change those statements, as they are based on sources, but rather to give examples and to underline some important achievements of Roman crimi- nal law which, sometimes forgotten or disregarded, should be considered in the process of its historical evaluation. 1 The most cruel are definitely aggravated forms of death penalty, such as crucifixion (crux), burning alive (vivi crematio), throwing to wild animals during the games (damnatio ad bestias), throwing to the sea in a sack with ritual animals (poena cullei). These are the most common, but during the history of Roman empire there existed many other severe kinds of capital punishment, see A.W.
    [Show full text]
  • Decapitation and Disgorgement: the Female Body's Text in Early Modern English Literature
    UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2003 Decapitation and disgorgement: The female body's text in early modern English literature Melanie Ann Hanson University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Hanson, Melanie Ann, "Decapitation and disgorgement: The female body's text in early modern English literature" (2003). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2568. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/cnaf-fj97 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ]3]3%:/lF'riVlTriC)a[y\]qi) r)DS(3()FlCH33W[EnNnr:TrBIEin3!üLAJLIi]3()I)Tf'S TTEOCr by Melanie Ann Hanson Bachelor of Arts San Diego State University 1975 Master o f Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1998 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor oflMWloiM)pl&y *m ISmyBUwdh (]oUegp:()f]LjlNarmll Art» Grmdmmte CoOege Umivcrgi^ of Nevmdo, Lw Vcgmm Mmy2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
    [Show full text]
  • Attitudes Toward Execution: the Tragic and Grotesque Framing of Capital Punishment in the News
    University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2016 Attitudes Toward Execution: The Tragic and Grotesque Framing of Capital Punishment in the News Katherine Shuy Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Part of the Rhetoric Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Shuy, Katherine, "Attitudes Toward Execution: The Tragic and Grotesque Framing of Capital Punishment in the News" (2016). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 10666. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/10666 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Head: ATTITUDES TOWARD EXECUTION i ATTITUDES TOWARD EXECUTION: THE TRAGIC AND GROTESQUE FRAMING OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN THE NEWS By KATHERINE SARAH SHUY Bachelor of Arts, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington, 2010 Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies The University of Montana Missoula, MT May 2016 Approved by: Scott Whittenburg, Dean of The Graduate School Graduate School Sara Hayden, Co-Chair Communication Studies Steve Schwarze, Co-Chair Communication Studies Lee Banville Journalism ATTITUDES TOWARD EXECUTION ii Shuy, Katherine, M.A., Spring 2016 Communication Studies The Tragic and Grotesque Framing of Capital Punishment in the News Co-Chairperson: Sara Hayden Co-Chairperson: Steve Schwarze This essay undertakes a detailed frame analysis of print and electronic media coverage of three nationally publicized death penalty cases between the years of 2014 and 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Reviews Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, Edited by Jeff Burger (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2014
    91 Reviews Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, edited by Jeff Burger (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2014. 432 pages). The published interview was not invented by music journalists—it was a staple of Paris Review and Playboy, to cite two antecedents before Rolling Stone came along in 1967—but this somewhat peculiar literary subgenre has always had a special significance in rock & roll. It emerged as a culturally distinctive magazine feature in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which is to say the moment when rock & roll became rock, when it shifted from a largely unselfconscious form of musical expression to a more cerebral, avowedly artistic, one. As in so many other ways, we mark our years AD: After Dylan. In its inaugural issue, Rolling Stone’s first interview subject was Donovan. But the patron saint (or, perhaps more accurately, sinner) of the form was Dylan: charismatic, elliptical, endlessly quotable. For musicians, journalists, and readers, the interview became an arena wherein the intellectual seriousness and philosophical ramifications of rock could be staked out and elaborated—generally free from the scrutiny of those (academics and other old people) who might regard the enterprise with amusement or ridicule. By the time Bruce Springsteen came along in the mid-seventies, the rock interview had already become a fixture not only of Rolling Stone, but also sister publications Creem and Circus, which were eagerly received by adolescents like myself as bulletins from faraway worlds that were simultaneously the locus of our inner lives. A not-quite-modest pronouncement from a reigning superstar would become a proposition we would ponder, test, and adopt as our own.
    [Show full text]