Jesus the borderlander: hybridity as survival strategy and model for political change. A Cultural Representation from the Gospel of John

Abstract

RELIGION JESUS THE BORDERLANDER: HYBRIDITY AS SURVIVAL STRATEGY AND MODEL FOR POLITICAL CHANGE——A CULTURAL REPRESENTATION FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN LETICIA AÍDA GUARDIOLA-SÁENZ Dissertation under the direction of Professor Fernando F. Segovia Since the 1970’s the face of biblical studies in general and Johannine studies in particular has been changing. The long-standing historical method——with its universal and objective reader——has been particularly challenged by the presence of the real reader——culturally and politically positioned——advanced by cultural studies. As real reader myself——Mexican-American woman from the Two-Thirds World——reading from the perspective of cultural studies, my aim in this project is to construct an alternative Johannine representation of Jesus as a hybrid being, a borderlander, which can operate as a postcolonial strategy of survival and as a model for political change. To establish the grounds for such hybrid Jesus I examine in chapter one the theories of representation used by Johannine scholarship to prove how all representations, even those considered objective, are inevitably political and culturally conditioned. In chapter two I survey cultural studies as my methodological foundation, highlighting its political background as an academic endeavor committed to social transformation. I define my hybrid identity as my hermeneutical lens and reading strategy. In chapter three I offer my representation of Jesus by analyzing first the Prologue of John, to map Jesus' hybrid identity as borderlander and second, the story of the Woman Accused of adultery, where Jesus offers an opportunity for political transformation by breaking down the patriarchal discourse. In chapter four I conclude with the political ramifications of Jesus' hybridity as a strategy for survival and model for political change. In our postcolonial, hybrid world, surrounded by countless political and geographical border zones——such as the U.S.-Mexico borderland——interdependency and integration are not far from our reach if we are willing to understand the potential of liminal and third-spaces as privileged sites of hope for a better world.