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Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 30, No. 1, 29-53 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0142064X07081544
© 2007 SAGE Publications

Opening a Narrative Programme: Luke 4.16-30 and the Black Bagr Narrative

Richard K. Baawobr

Missionaries of Africa, Via Aurelia 269, CP 9078, 00100 Rome, Italy boboto{at}mafroma.org

Although African culture uses a lot of stories, African scholars rarely use the dynamics of popular stories in biblical interpretation. This article explores this possibility through a narrative analysis of the inaugural discourse of Jesus in Lk. 4.16-30 and an opening story from the bagr initiation rite of the Dagara of Ghana. Both stories are at the beginning of longer narratives and thus influence the rest of the narrative. They have an inbuilt appeal to discipleship and to acting in a certain way. The article identifies the key moments of each story and examines how each story shapes the wider narrative. Dialogue with the anthropologist, Alexis Tengan (2006), exegetes and other writers, allows the relevance and challenges of biblical narrative criticism in Africa and beyond to emerge.

Key Words: Narrative criticism • story • bagr initiation • Dagara • Ghana • discipleship


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