Our final Linguistics Circle for the 2021 calendar year is coming up on Thursday, December 9, 7-9pm. This month, we have PhD student (New Testament) Vinh Nguyen, who co-wrote a paper with friend to MDC, Dr. Craig Price, presenting a paper entitled “Power and Authority as Apostolic Strategy: An Assessment of Pauline Ideology in 1 Corinthians 4.” Below is the abstract:
Abstract:
In 1 Corinthians 4, the apostle Paul addresses those in Corinth who have imbibed the Roman imperial ideology—seeking to thrive on their display of power. The power language and rhetoric used in such a context was intended to control everything, including the system of justice. This essay implements the ideological component of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), a social theory of discourse espoused by Norman Fairclough, with Halliday’s theory of register. First, we will explain the methodology of CDA and argue the usefulness of Foucault’s paradigm for analyzing the notion of power in discourse. Second, we will perform a full register analysis of 1 Corinthians 4 and demonstrate how Paul’s discourse of power not only reveals his kingdom ideology but begins to reshape and change the imperial ideology in the situation at Corinth. Third, we will draw conclusions and argue that Paul’s rhetorical strategy overturns the cultural understanding of imperial power by instituting a new dominant register—one that opposes arrogance and embodies servanthood.
We look forward to wrapping up the year with a lively discussion on the use of power and register in language. For more information on this or other Linguistic Circle events, please contact Dr. Dave Yoon (yoond2@mcmaster.ca).
Zoom link:
https://zoom.us/j/92841491842?pwd=NlVNWWZITFozQ3lZVlNLZThRbVpnZz09
Meeting ID: 928 4149 1842
Passcode: gb7UeF
Linguistics Circle is a monthly gathering where we have a paper distributed to interested people beforehand, and discussed during the meeting. Anyone interested in biblical linguistics is welcome to join.
All meetings are on a Thursday evening, from 7-9pm. For those interested in joining and not yet a member of CBLTE, please contact Dr. Dave Yoon to get connected.