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Introduction
25
ofdefensiveisolationandwalling-inoftheindividualorcommunalbody.Itis
basedonthedichotomizedrelationshipbetweentheselfandtheother,andon
therhetoricofwar,purityandinviolabilityofboundaries.Teothermode,one
whichprovesmoreefectiveandlessdeadlythanthefirst,allowsforthepreven-
tiveincorporationofthelethalorthreateningelementswithinthecommunal
bodyorindividuallife.Bydevelopingbiblicalfiguresintotheimmunologically
diferentcharacters-theliteral-mindedfastingJesus,thenaivelypureMary,the
ambivalentJudasorCaiaphas,etc.,andbyinquiringintotheefectsoftheirvari-
ousimmunitarymodes,thenovelsconstructechoingmythsinwhichtheBible
isthoughtoutsidetheultimatelydebilitatingcategoriesofpurity,homogeneity,
orinnocuousness.Althoughthecomposite,impure,unhygienic,undemocratic,
morally“dirty”Bibleisshownasdangerous,thebiblicalrewritingsdiscussedin
Chapter4seemtoshowthattheriskinvolvedinthenon-dichotomousattitudeto
theprotectionofculturalhealthoutweighsthedetrimentalefectsoftheinsist-
enceontheinviolableboundariesbetweentheselfandtheother.
***
Allofthebiblicalrewritingsdiscussedinthisbooktouchontheproblemofthe
community-oneofthemosturgentandtroublingissuestoday.AsRoberto
Espositocogentlyputsit,“Nothingseemsmoreappropriatetodaythanthinking
community;nothingmorenecessary,demanded,andheraldedbyasituationthat
joinsinauniqueepochalknotthefailureofallcommunismswiththemiseryof
newindividualisms”(2010:1).Inahomogenizedandyetdeeplydividedworld,
inwhich“thecommon”isbothdisappointinglyself-evident(aconsequenceof
livinginaglobalvillage)andseriouslyfeared,communityisanexceptionally
weightyandchallengingproblem.Ontheonehand,thecurrentprominenceand
ubiquityoftheconceptshowsthatpeopletodayarelookingforsomethingthat
couldoferthesenseofbelonging,meaningfulinteractionswithothers,andthe
contextforlastingcommitment.IrreducibletoonesideofFerdinandTönnies’s
distinctionbetweencommunity(Gemeinschaf)andsociety(Gesellschaf),com-
munityinthesenseofadynamicnetworkofnon-homogenizingsolidarities,
responsibilitiesandtogethernessiswhatvariousmembersofthesocietytryto
find.InthewordsofGerardDelanty,“theideaofcommunityisrelatedtothe
searchforbelongingintheinsecureconditionsofmodernsociety;perhapsthis
explainsitsenduringappeal.Tepopularityofcommunitytodaycanbeseenas
aresponsetothecrisisinsolidarityandbelongingthathasbeenexacerbatedand
atthesametimeinducedbyglobalization”(2010:x).Inthefaceofuncertainty,
precariousnessandinsecurityproducedbytheliquidmodernity,peoplesee
inthecommunityapromiseofbetter,deeper,moremeaningfulrelationships
(Bauman2001:1-3).“CCommunity’isawordmostagreeabletomodernears,or
soitwouldseem”(Blackshaw2010:19).
