Queering the Prophet: On Jonah, and Other Activists

What does it mean to be a prophet in queer times? Considering first the queerness of the prophet Jonah, this volume then broadens its scope to the queer prophetic in our own time, reflecting on what makes a prophet ‘queer’, and considering how public theology is itself, an example of the queer prophetic. With a broad range of international contributors, this book offers a bold and essential new addition to queer biblical studies literature.

Table of Contents:
Contributors Introduction Part 1: Queering the Prophet Jonah 1 These Are the Days of Raw Despondence: Finding a Queer Kindred in the Book of Jonah Charlene van der Walt 2 Prophecy and Consent: The Case of Jonah Rhiannon Graybill 3 Under a Desert Plant: Queer Heterotopias in Jonah Steed Davidson 4 ‘When the World No Longer Appears the Right Way Up:’ Queering Time, Space, and the Prophetic Body in Jonah 2 L Juliana Claassens 5 Queering Memories of Nineveh as ‘Great City’ in the Book of Jonah: Challenging Presuppositions of Power in Post-exilic Yehud 6 Queering the Straight Jonah – A Reception-Exegetical Exploration Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer 7 Would Vishnu Save Jonah’s Poor Fishie?: A Transtextual Query Jione Havea Part 2: Becoming Queer Prophets 8 Queering the Prophetic Process: From Jonah to the Ujamma Centre’s CBS on Galatians Gerald West and Tracey Sibisi 9 On the Public Intellectual as Queer Prophet: Considering the Activism of Zethu Matebeni and Charlene van der Walt Ashwin Afrikanus Thyssen, 10 Becoming a Queer Prophet: Desmond Tutu, Embodiment and Speaking Out for LGBTIQ+ Equality Jacob Meiring 11 What Makes a Queer Prophet? Charisma, Authority and Counter-Knowledges in the Ministry of a Kenyan Intersex Apostle Stephen Kapinde and Adriaan van Klinken 12 Queering the Publics: Reflections on Truth by Prophetic Practitioners Nokuthula Mjwara, Hanzline R. Davids, Louis van der Riet, and Ashwin Thyssen 13 Womanist Biblical Interpretation’s Prophetic Potential Sheurl Davis, Madré Arendse and Ashwin Thyssen

About the Author :
L. Juliana M. Claassens is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Steed Vernyl Davidson is Professor of Hebrew Bible, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago IL and Extraordinary Visiting Professor, Department of Old and New Testament, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa Charlene van der Walt is the head of the Gender and Religion at the School of Religion, Philosophy, and Classics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and also serves as the Deputy Director of the Ujamaa Center for Biblical and Theological Community Development and Research. Ashwin Thyssen is a junior lecturer in the Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, Stellenbosch University. He teaches church polity, church history, and religion and law.

Review :
"Queering the Prophet is a genuinely intersectional, international, interdisciplinary and interreligious book. The prophetic figure of Jonah is shown to be queer in multitudinous ways, and is portrayed here as guiding star for other prophets negotiating their social, cultural, political and religious worlds in queer times. The voices of established and emerging scholars highlight the prophetic nature of much activist work in Africa, Europe, North America and Oceania." "As a collection of queer activism and a rich example of how to do biblical studies differently and more justly, this volume superbly demonstrates how queer biblical scholarship challenges multiple, powerful systems of exclusion. Using feminist, postcolonial, queer and other intersectional approaches, Queering the Prophet offers more imaginative, colourful and fabulous ways of being in the world. " "...an important contribution to Biblical scholarship, Religious Studies and the larger field of Queer Studies. Using the best exegetical and hermeneutical tools the diverse ensemble of articles build up a body of knowledge that is not limited to repeating what has already been said, but dares to imagine new possibilities that emerge from lived experience in different contexts. It presents multiple ways in which to engage with from a Latin American perspective and show the world how much fun and joy there can be down here in the South." "This volume is a dream come true for biblical scholars interested in challenging the status quo in Biblical Studies and for teachers wanting to engage students who have little interest in the ‘old’ academic questions. Queering the Prophet features some of the field’s most creative and innovative biblical scholars working on the question of queerness in Jonah in a variety of modes and registers. But the real innovation comes in the second half of the volume where activists and practitioners speak to their real-life struggles for justice and inclusion as embodying queer being and resistance. The result is a truly stimulating set of essays."