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Introduction
andcommonality,namely,aroundtheonewhichwoulddiminishtheriskofit
solidifying,flatteningordegeneratingintothemeansofexclusion,violenceor
individualpleasure.Communitycanbeimaginedtodayinwaysthatconsciously
reflectonthedangerofitbecomingabesiegedfortress,aconsumableproduct,or
atotalitarianresource.Whatmanycontemporarydiscussionsofcommunityshow
isthatit“maybeconceivedofasbeingbeyondunity,whereunityistheelimina-
tionofdiference”(Delanty2010:109).Suchconceptionspresentthecommunityas
governedby“weakontologies”(Blackshaw2010:11),whichgiveuponestablishing
foundations,fixitiesorunities.“Weakontologieshavenofoundations,andthey
arealwayscontestable,butweareofendeeplycommittedtothembecausethey
havefundamentalimportancetohowweseeandreflectonourobservationsabout
theworldasindividuals,oursenseofwhoweare,andhowwewanttolivetheir
liveswithotherpeople”(Blackshaw2010:11).Communitiespredicatedonweak
ontologiesdonottrytosubordinateindividualstosomeputativelymoreimpor-
tant,collectivenarratives,butallowtheseindividualstounderstandtheirmutual
dependencyand,inreactiontosucharecognition,torethink(modify,expand)
theiridentities.Withintheweak-ontologies-basedcommunity,individualsdo
nottakeforgrantedeitherthemselvesorothersortheirrelationships,butexpose
themselvestooneanother,andconsciouslyandcriticallydevelop(orredirect)
theircommitments.Suchcommunitiesconstituteandreconstitutethemselvesin
communication,discourseandimagination.AsHillisJ.Millerputsit,itiscom-
municationwhosepronouncementsorspeechactsare“notendorsedbyanypublic
lawsandinstitutions.Teyworkbyaresolutiontogoonbeingtruetothemthat
iscontinuouslyself-generatedandself-sustained”(2005:93).
Tebiblicalrewritingsonwhichthisbookfocusesexploretheideological
underpinningsoftheBible-derived(orBible-boosted)mythswhichsupportthe
exclusion-based,allegedlypurecommunity.Likeallmyths,theechoingmyths
producedbytherewritingoftheBiblehaveanimportantcommunitarianstreak.
AsNancyclaims,“Mytharisesonlyfromacommunityandforit:theyengender
oneanother,infinitelyandimmediately.Nothingismorecommon,nothingis
moreabsolutelycommonthanmyth.[ł]Mythcommunicatesthecommon,the
being-commonofwhatitrevealsorwhatitrecites”(1991:50).Terewritingsecho
biblicalmyths,exposingtheirdangersanddegenerations,andtryingtoimagine
communityinalternative,moreelusiveways,i.e.throughtheweakontologyof
theechoingmyth,andbeyondunityandtheeliminationofdiference.Tenov-
elsbyRoberts,Burgess,Winterson,Crace,PullmanandAldermanreturntothe
Bibleasadocumentwhichusedtofunctionasbothacommunity-formingtext,
andasabookfosteringexclusionandviolence.Troughthecriticalrewritingof
biblicalnarratives,thesenovels,ontheonehand,exposethedivisivecharacter
ofcommunitiesthatwereconsolidatedwiththeuseoftheBible,andonthe
otherhand,redeployscripturalstoriesinordertoimagineadiferent,morefluid
andfragilemannerofbelonging.
