Jesus Framed

"Jesus Framed" is a collection of essays on reading the gospel of Mark. It uses literary theory, most notably the writings of Roland Barthes, to examine some of the difficulties in the text of Mark. A series of close readings of the gospel of Mark is compared to similar texts, biblical and otherwise. This approach challenges widely held notions regarding textual meaning. Drawing on Mark's famous phrase that "to those who are outside all comes through parables" (Mark 4: 11-12), "Jesus Framed" explores the boundaries between insiders and outsiders, those who can and those who cannot find a meaning in the text.

Biblical Limits is a new series which brings to the traditional field of Biblical Studies literary criticism, anthropology and gender-based approaches, thus reaching new ways of understanding Biblical texts.Jesus Framed is a collection of essays on reading the gospel of Mark. It uses literary theory, most notably the writings of Roland Barthes, to examine some of the difficulties in the text of Mark. A series of close readings of the gospel of Mark is compared to similar texts, both biblical and otherwise. Drawing on Mark's famous phrase that "to those who are outside all comes through parables" (Mark 4:11-12), Jesus Framed explores the boundaries between insiders and outsiders, those who can and those who cannot find a meaning in the text.

Preface. Introduction, Rewriting the Text, Chapter 1. Jesus Framed, Chapter 2. Desire for an End, Chapter 3. Talitha Cum, Chapter 4. The Text Reads Itself, Chapter 5. Jesus's Frankness, Chapter 6. Reading Beyond the Meaning, Chapter 7. Text, Intertext, Ideology, Postscript. "Get Rid of It." Works Cited. Index.

George Aichele is Professor for Philosophy and Religion at Adrian College. He is author of The Limits of Story (1985) and, as a member of the Bible and Culture Collective, co-author of The Postmodern Bible (1995)