This essay examines the theme of blindness in the Gospel of Mark. The two main questions asked are: 1) “What is Mark’s view on blindness?” and 2) “How does the Gospel of Mark’s view on blindness inform the current discourse of disability studies and how can we interpret Mark’s view on blindness today?” By the methods of metaphor analysis and character analysis, four passages of the Gospel are studied (Mark 4:10-12; 8:14-21; 22-26; 10:46-52). The analysis concludes that blindness is depicted by the author of the Gospel as a disability which also consist of a lack of cognitive ability and a hopeless state that is in need of healing. The depiction of blindness in Mark originates out of the authors use of blindness as a metaphor for lack of cognitive ability (Mk 4:12; 8:18) and the lack of characterization of the blind man at Bethsaida (8:22-23). This view on blindness is, in comparison to a modern view, difficult, as it marginalizes persons with blindness as inconsiderate and not fully human. The view of blindness is somewhat nuanced, however, by the fuller characterization of Bartimaeus (10:46-52). The essay then discusses, in dialogue with disability studies, the complexity of Mark’s uses of blindness as a metaphor and of the difficulties of our modern, often generalized, views of blindness in antiquity and how the view of blindness in Marks gospel both constructs and deconstructs blindness as a disability.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-242065 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Sernheim, Jacob |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Nya testamentets exegetik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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