R.S. Sugirtharajah – författare

This reference work is unique. It makes available in one volume the breadth and richness of the theology devoted to issues specifically related to the Third World and its theological concerns. It is written solely by the people normally relegated to the periphery. The contributors are men and women of the Third World, including indigenous peoples from different continents, diasporans who find homes outside their native lands, and marginalized people who inhabit the so-called First World. A quick glance at the current lexicographical works on theological and biblical disciplines shows that they tend to be Western-oriented and written from a Eurocentric perspective. The Third World concerns listed in them are either added as an afterthought or tailored to suit Western protocols and expectations. This dictionary attempts to redress the balance, viewing everything through the prism of a Third World lens. The Dictionary includes over 150 short entries on themes such as 'Asia', 'Capitalism', 'Colonization', 'Feminism', 'Globalization', 'Orthodox Theologies', 'Poverty', and 'Racism'. They are inclusive of geographical, cultural and denominational variations.

The essays assembled in this volume constitute a counter discourse to the existing understandings of the Bible and Christian theology. Applying postcolonial critical categories within the theological discipline, Sugirtharajah calls into question some of the established notions about the relationship between the Bible, theology and colonialism.Among the issues the volume deals with are: the status and standing of the Bible; colonial appropriation of biblical texts and postcolonial reappraisal of them; the fate of the Bible outside its natural habitat; the permeation of the ideologies of empire in Christian theology and biblical interpretation; potency and pitfalls of Third World theological discourse and the hazards of brokering texts from other cultures in Western metropolitan centres. Postcolonial Reconfigurations is a major critical intervention in the current debates surrounding the Bible and Christian theology. Written in an accessible style, it offers not only an illuminative reassessment, but also signals a significant next step for theological discourse. R.S. Sugirtharajah is Professor of Biblical Hermeneutics in the University of Birmingham. His most recent publications include The Bible and the Third World: Precolonial, Colonial and Postcolonial Encounters (2001) and Postcolonial Criticism and Biblical Interpretation (2002).

Contributors to this collection have been asked to re-read the book that inspired them the most at the outset of their career, or earlier, and then describe what that book offers them now, and how the book and the reader have changed - be it theologically, culturally, politically, personally or professionally - since that first inspiring read. Each chapter reads differently, the tone changing from author to author depending on their various social and political locations, their gender and ethnic differences. Contributors represent different disciplines - Systematic Theology, Biblical Studies, Cultural and English Studies. The selection also reflects male and female, centre and margin, Black and White representations. Each is a very well-established figure in their field and, more crucially, they are at the stage in their career to undertake the type of exercise envisioned in this exciting and unusual project.Autobiographical criticism is a growing tool in most academic fields and here for the first time, a group of eminent theologians ask themselves about the relationship between the reader and the book. Each scholars addresses the book's original context and the present context; their theological and hermeneutical journey; how the theological landscape has changed over the years for them; the memories these re-readings bring; their prejudices, theological likes and dislikes, and how these have shaped their theological thinking today. Contributions from dynamic thinkers from around the globe, include: Stephen Moore, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Regina Schwartz, Fernando Segovia, Laura Donaldson, Kwok Pui-Lan, Alice Bach, Roland Boer, Archie Lee, Elsa Tamez, Christopher Rowland, Yvonne Sherwood, Sharon Ringe, Tina Pippan, Randall Bailey and more.