Focalization in Early Christian Stories
The story of Jesus is the fundamental narrative of Christianity. Everybody knows central events of his life. However, early Christian versions of this story often differ markedly with respect to how they portray one and the same events – because they are presented from different perspectives. This group aims at uncovering these different viewpoints.
| Place of research | LMU Munich |
| Association | International Doctoral Program „Philology“ |
| Project duration | 2023 to 2029 |
| Group leader | Dr. Christoph Heilig Contact the group leader |
Different Perspectives on the Story of Jesus
The narrative of Jesus Christ has been retold countless times over the past two thousand years. The events associated with his life, death, and resurrection form part of our shared consciousness. However, through whose perspective do we perceive these events? Narratology stresses that the same sequence of events can be relayed quite differently, depending upon the perspective used to conceptualize these happenings. In this International Junior Research Group, we aim to uncover this multifaceted dimension, exploring how different perspectives can profoundly affect our understanding and interpretation of the story of Jesus.
Concentrating on Narrative Perspective
The narratological examination of biblical narratives has proven to be incredibly insightful in recent years. However, one of the key components of telling a story - the narrative perspective or focalization - has so far been largely overlooked. We aim to address this omission. After all, a narrative is much more than just the plot itself, and a thorough analysis should consider not only what is narrated but also how it is conveyed.
In our project, we concentrate on significant collections of early Christian texts. We aim to determine the extent to which the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke diverge in their portrayal of events, even when essentially narrating "the same story". Similarly, in the apostle Paul's letters, we discover numerous condensed narratives about Jesus Christ. It begs the question, to what extent can differences in these brief narratives be explained by the choice of diverse viewpoints (e.g., God's perspective vs. Jesus' perspective)?
Unveiling the multiperspectivity within early Christian texts about Jesus is crucial, particularly in an age where societal peace relies on our ability to understand the viewpoints of others.
Dr. Christoph Heilig
Finally, we analyze apocryphal literature, which provides valuable new perspectives on Jesus.
An Interdisciplinary Approach
We collaborate with the International Doctoral Program in Philology. This collaboration enables us to delve deeply into the relationship between narratology and philology. Narratological analyses rely on philological work, such as text criticism. In turn, narratological analyses can profoundly influence fundamental philological practices, like translation. We also investigate the influence of "large language models" (made known to the public through platforms like ChatGPT) on philological and narratological research.
Just a Matter of Perspective?
Narrative perspective is a crucial aspect of storytelling. By only focusing on what is being narrated and neglecting how the events are depicted by the narrator, we risk missing out on the full depth of the story. This poses the question how the story of Jesus is told in today's world. From which viewpoint are we accustomed to seeing these events? Which perspectives have been marginalized over the centuries? And what richness could we add back into our cultural heritage if we fully embrace this multiperspectivity?
The International Research Group closely cooperates with the International Doctoral Program "Philology".
Further cooperations
| University of Amsterdam | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| University of Basel | Basel, Switzerland |
| UUniversity of Bonn | Bonn, Germany |
| University of Fribourg | Fribourg, Switzerland |
| University of Göttingen | Göttingen, Germany |
| University of Regensburg | Regensburg, Germany |
| University of St Andrews | St Andrews, UK |
| University of Virginia | Charlottesville, USA |
| University of Zurich | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Yale Divinity School | New Haven, USA |
| Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki, Greece |
| National and Kapodistrian University of Athens | Athen, Griechenland |