NARRATIVE CRITICISM
Narrative1 criticism is often treated as a subcategory of assumption that gaps, suspense, or inconsistency con?tribute to
literary criticism. However, the 1980s provided a watershed,
when narrative criticism came to be regarded as a critical
method of biblical studies in its own right. Robert Alter’s
publication of The Art of Biblical Narrativeappears to be the
turning point in 19812. While the term ‘narrative criticism’ is
more common in New Testament3 studies than among Hebrew
Bible scholars, there has been parallel work in the application of
methodology, with Hebrew Bible scholars usuallyleading the
way in the application of current trends in secular literary
criticism. Narrative criticism in Hebrew4 Bible and New
Testament studies5 can also be distinguished respectively by an
interest in poetry versus an interest in ancient rhetoric.
Narrative critics read biblical narratives as literature or
story, taking a ‘fictive’ approach, which treats the text as art or
poetry. They interpret the text in its final form in terms of its
own story world. A narrative critic’s ‘close reading’ assumes
literary integrity and reads the text holistically. The text is
processed sequentially, and the parts are related to the whole.
The approach is in contrast, for example, with traditional
treatments of the Gospels where studies isolate individual
pericopes or scholars create synopses that combine all four
Gospels into one account. Narrative criticism is also a reaction
against historical criticism which attempts to reconstruct
sources and recreate an editorial history of the text, and focuses
on the original setting, recipients, and the author’s or editor’s
intentions. Narrative critics deplore the historical critics’
tendency to segment the text. They claim to advocate a
‘restorationist biblicism’ that respects the text and provides a
better basis for its religious use. The methodology of narrative
criticism is complex and by no means unified, but may be
summarized in four steps that are not necessarily taken by a
critic in a sequential manner. First, the form of the text is
analyzed and categorized according to formal and conventional
literary aspects and genres. Literary aspect includes the
categories of fiction, nonfiction, prose, and poetry. Literary
narrative genres include categories such as history, legend, and
myth. Second, the literary structure of the text is analyzed in
terms of setting, plot, language play, and theme. The setting
consists of the basic context given in the narrative in which the
plot and the characters develop. It includes geographical,
temporal, social, and historical information. The plot includes
the story’s beginning, a sequence of events that build to the
climax, and the ending. Plot can be studied at a macro (the whole
text) or micro (pericope) level.It involves attention to narrative
time, which is regarded as literary arrangement of the order of
events rather than historical sequence. Conversely, attention is
1
Daniel Marguerat, Yvan Bourquin, and Marcel Durrer, How to
Read Bible Stories: An Introduction to Narrative Criticism (Hymns
Ancient and Modern Ltd, 1999).
2
Mieke Bal, ed., Narrative Theory, Critical concepts in literary and
cultural studies (London ; New York: Routledge, 2004).
3
James L. Resseguie, Narrative Criticism of the New Testament: An
Introduction (Baker Academic, 2005), 38-40.
4
David M. Gunn and Danna Nolan Fewell, Narrative in the Hebrew
Bible, Oxford Bible series (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993).
5
William Wade Klein, Craig L Blomberg, and Robert L Hubbard,
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Nasville, TN [etc.: Thomas
Nelson, 2004).
given to temporal or thematic discontinuity, due to the
the meaning of the story. Language play provides implicit
commentary that guides the reader through the story and
includes devices such as irony, comedy, symbolism, repetition,
and omission. Third, the characters are studied. Conventional
roles such as protagonists and antagonists are identified as well
as motives and change. The use of characterization is
significant: how the author develops interesting personalities
with whom the reader identifies is key to the narrative. Fourth,
the narrative perspective or points of view taken by various
characters are identified. Among some narrative critics, there is
a distinction between the real author, the implied author, and
the narrator. The narrator is the person within the story that is
telling the story, and the implied narrator is the perspective
from which the text is written. In the Gospel of John, the
narrator is the ‘beloved disciple,’ and the implied narrator is
John6. The perspectives from which the text is told include the
use of the first or third person, the temporal location and the
omniscience and/or omnipresence of the author/narrator who
is able to interpret events from a future perspective and
provide the reader with ‘inside’ information about
characters’thoughts, motivations, reasons, and private
conversations. There is a similar distinction made by some
between the real reader, the narratee, and the implied reader.
The implied readers are the group of readers that the text
addresses who share certain presuppositions and knowledge of
certain information. The real reader is meant to agree to accept
the dynamic of the story world created by the author,
temporarily adopting the faith commitments and value systems
indicated by the text in order to associate with the feelings of
the implied readers and determine the effect of the text, which
is the intended response. The application of the four steps of
narrative criticism is directed toward the detection of an
overarching or encapsulating theme.
Narrative criticism is characterized by a remarkable
diversity of approach. There is a growing interest in
intertextuality, which is interconnection with texts outside of a
narrative’s immediate contextual boundaries. There is
considerable disagreement about narratorial reliability
(omniscience), the role of texts, contexts and readers, and the
implications of interpretations. Even if all can be brought to
agree on the facts, what is made of the facts is entirely different.
Therefore, there has been a growing recognition that a uniform
system of reading cannot guarantee uniform interpretation.
Some narrative critics are combining reader-response criticism
with narrative criticism through paying attention to the role of
the reader in making meaning and studying how the text
interprets the readers by helping them to understand
themselves and their experiences. Literary criticism and
narrative criticism are also combined with other current
literary and sociological trends such as deconstruction, feminist
criticism, political criticism, and psychoanalytic criticism.7
References and further reading
Alter, R. (1981) The Art of Biblical Narrative, New York:
Basic.
6
Mlakuzhyil George, The Christocentric Literary Structure of the
Fourth Gospel (Gregorian Biblical BookShop, 1987).
7
Gerhard Maier, Biblical Hermeneutics, 1st English ed. (Wheaton,
Ill: Crossway Books, 1994).
–––– (1985) The Art of Biblical Poetry, New York: Basic.
Amit, Y. (2001) Reading Biblical Narratives: Literary Criticism
and the Hebrew Bible, Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Bal, M. (1991) On Story-Telling: Essays in Narratology,
David Jobling (ed.), Sonoma: Polebridge.
Bauer, D.R. (1988) The Structure of Matthew’s Gospel: A Study in
Literary Design, Sheffield: Almond.
Camery-Hoggatt, J. (1992) Irony in Mark’s Gospel: Text
and Subtext, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Culpepper, R.A. (1983) Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel:
A Study in Literary Design, Philadelphia: Fortress
Press.
Darr, J.A. (1992) On Character Building: The Reader and
the Rhetoric of Characterization in Luke-Acts, Louisville:
Westminster/John Knox.
Duke, P. (1985) Irony in the Fourth Gospel, Atlanta: John
Knox.
Fokkelman, J.P. (1999) Reading Biblical Narrative: An
Introductory Guide, trans. I. Smit, Louisville:
Westminster/John Knox.
–––– (2001) Reading Biblical Poetry: An Introductory
Guide, trans. I. Smit, Louisville: Westminster/John
Knox.
Gunn, D.M. (1999) ‘Narrative Criticism’, pp. 201–29
in To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical
Criticisms and their Applications, Revised and Expanded,
S.L. McKenzie and S.R. Haynes (eds.), Louisville:
Westminster/John Knox.
–––– and D.N. Fewell (1993) Narrative in the Hebrew
Bible, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Heil, J.P. (1991) The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: A
Narrative-Critical Reading of Matthew 26–28,
Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Howell, D.B. (1990) Matthew’s Inclusive Story: A Study
in the Narrative Rhetoric of the First Gospel, Sheffield:
JSOT Press.
Karris, R.J. (1989) Luke, Artist and Theologian: Luke’s
Passion Account as Literature, New York: Paulist.
Kingsbury, J.D. (1988) Matthew as Story, Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 2nd edn.
–––– (1989) Conflict in Mark: Jesus, Authorities, Disciples,
Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
–––– (1991) Conflict in Luke: Jesus, Authorities, Disciples,
Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Kurz, W.S. (1993) Reading Luke-Acts: Dynamics of Biblical
Narrative, Louisville: Westminster/John Knox.
Malbon, E.S. (1986) Narrative Space and Mythic Meaning
in Mark, San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Moore, S. (1989) Literary Criticism and the Gospels: The
Theoretical Challenge, New Haven: Yale University
Press.
O’Day, G.R. (1986) Revelation in the Fourth Gospel:
Narrative Mode and Theological Claim, Philadelphia:
Fortress Press.
Osborne, G.R. (1991) The Hermeneutical Spiral: A
Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation,
Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
Powell, M.A. (1990) What is Narrative Criticism?
Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Rhoads, D. and D. Michie (1982) Mark as Story: An
Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel, Minneapolis:
Fortress Press.
Sheely, S.M. (1992) Narrative Asides in Luke-Acts,
Sheffield: JSOT Press.
Staley, J.L. (1988) The Print’s First Kiss: A Rhetorical
Investigation of the Implied Reader in the Fourth Gospel,
Atlanta: Scholars.
Sternberg, M. (1985) The Poetics of Biblical Narrative,
Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Stibbe, M.W.G. (1992) John as Storyteller: Narrative
Criticism and the Fourth Gospel, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Tannehill, R.C. (1986, 1990) The Narrative Unity of Luke?Acts:
A Literary Interpretation, 2 Vols., Philadelphia:
Fortress Press.
Weaver, D.J. (1990) Matthew’s Missionary Discourse:
A Literary-Critical Analysis, Philadelphia: Fortress
Press.
CYNTHIA LONG WESTFAL
Bal, Mieke, ed. Narrative Theory. Critical concepts in literary
and cultural studies. London ; New York: Routledge,
2004.
George, Mlakuzhyil. The Christocentric Literary Structure of the
Fourth Gospel. Gregorian Biblical BookShop, 1987.
Gunn, David M., and Danna Nolan Fewell. Narrative in the
Hebrew Bible. Oxford Bible series. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press, 1993.
Klein, William Wade, Craig L Blomberg, and Robert L Hubbard.
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Nasville, TN
[etc.: Thomas Nelson, 2004.
Maier, Gerhard. Biblical Hermeneutics. 1st English ed. Wheaton,
Ill: Crossway Books, 1994.
Marguerat, Daniel, Yvan Bourquin, and Marcel Durrer. How to
Read Bible Stories: An Introduction to Narrative
Criticism. Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 1999.
Resseguie, James L. Narrative Criticism of the New Testament:
An Introduction. Baker Academic, 2005.