Projects

2020-2023:

Colonial experiences and postcolonial concerns in Africa-related Old Testament readings

Colonialism never came to an end in Africa; it simply continued and continues in new forms whose concerns and patterns can easily be experienced, even in academia. As a case, this project analyzes Africa-related interpretations of the Old Testament from the 1850s up till today – with a particular focus on questions of interpretive power in relation to contextuality, colonialism, and coloniality and their mutual influence.

Publications

  • Knut Holter: “Isak – the son of the rainmaker – and the Bible: An example of resistance hermeneutics in Zululand around 1870,” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 166 (2020), 51-61.

  • Knut Holter: “Doing biblical studies in poverty contexts: Some African experiences and concerns,” in Markus Zehnder and Hallvard Hagelia (eds.), The Bible and Money: Economy and Socioeconomic Ethics in the Bible. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2020 (Bible and the Modern World, 76), 378-392.

  • Knut Holter: “The Maasai and the ancient Israelites: Religio-cultural parallels,” in Knut Holter and Lemburis Justo (eds.), Maasai Encounters with the Bible. Nairobi: Acton Publishers, 2020, 107-119.

  • Knut Holter: “‘Not a literary man, though very devoted to the Old Testament’: Colonial and contextual biblical interpretation vis-à-vis Africa,” in Louise Lawrence, Peter-Ben Smit, Hanna M. Strømmen, and Charlene van der Walt (eds.) Challenging Contextuality: Bibles and Biblical Scholarship in Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024, pp. 224-240.

  • Knut Holter: “An American axe and the power of God’s word: Concepts of technological and religious superiority in the encounter between Norwegian missionaries and Zulu royalty in the 1860s,” in Aliou Cissé Niang, Andrew M. Mbuvi, Alice Yafeh-Deigh, Tinyiko Maluleke, and Kenneth N. Ngwah (eds.), Biblical Hermeneutics in Context and the Struggle for Meaning. A Festschrift in Honor of Gerald O. West. Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2024, pp. 425-441.

  • Knut Holter: “Gold and precious stones from Madagascar to Solomon's temple in Jerusalem: An aspect of the concept of ancient Israelite migration to Africa,” in Allen Amy Lindeman, Francisco Lozada Jr., and Yak-hwee Tan (eds.), The Critic in the World: Essays in Honor of Fernando F. Segovia. Atlanta: SBL Press, pp. 241-261.

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