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Using T witter to Teach Reader‐Oriented Biblical Interpretation: “Tweading” the G ospel of M ark
Author(s) -
Williamson Robert
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
teaching theology and religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.165
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1467-9647
pISSN - 1368-4868
DOI - 10.1111/teth.12049
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , interpretation (philosophy) , computer science , psychology , epistemology , linguistics , philosophy
T witter offers an engaging way to introduce students to reader‐oriented interpretation of the Bible. The exercise described here introduces students to the idea that the reader has a role in the production of a text's meaning, which thus varies from reader to reader. T witter enables us to capture the real‐time thoughts of a variety of respondents to the text of M ark as it is read aloud. Students can concretely observe the effects of particular textual moments on individual respondents as well as analyze their general interpretive stances with regard to the text as a whole. Students come to grasp that the meaning of the text varies depending on the reader, setting the stage for more complex theoretical discussion of reader‐response theory, the reader's role in the production of meaning, the adjudication of “allowed” and “disallowed” interpretations, and the appropriateness of “reader‐response” criticisms for texts that were composed to be encountered orally.