Researching preaching beyond the (transcribed) text in (South) Africa

Methodological considerations

Bibliographic Data

ID22137282
AuthorsCas Wepener (0000-0002-7468-1481, Stellenbosch University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume6
Issue2
Publication date2021-01-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStellenbosch Theological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2413-9459 • E-ISSN: 2413-9467
PublisherChristian Literature Fund (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.17570/stj.2020.v6n4.a22
OpenAlexW3125395745
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited14

In (South) Africa, preaching should in addition to textual studies of recorded and transcribed sermon texts, also be studied as an enacted performance and thus beyond the transcribed text. This article develops an argument regarding the need for the field of Homiletics in (South) Africa to firstly broaden the object of empirical homiletical research and study preaching as an enacted or performed liturgical ritual and secondly, augment its existing research methodologies accordingly. Such a methodology will take African epistemologies and ontologies more seriously than traditional methodologies that only study transcribed texts and to a large extent ignore the significance of the performance of the sermon. Recent methodological developments in Liturgical Studies can be helpful in this regard and a discussion between the two disciplines are encouraged, as well as insights gained from other fields such as Ritual – and Performance Studies. The article ends with some implications that the broadening of the research object may have for homiletical research methods in Africa

Archaeology · Biology · Empirical research · Epistemology · Field research · Linguistics · Regional science · Research Object · Sermon · Sociology · Anthropology · Christian Theology and Mission · History · Philosophy · Religion and Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nigeria · Religion, Society, and Development

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