B.A. (Trinity, Illinois), M.Div., Th.M., (Calvin Theological Seminary)
Thesis: At the Intersection Between History and Fiction in Biography and Autobiography; A Repositioning, Using the Quest for the Historical Jesus as a Case Study
Examining Committee:
Committee: Jonathan Bordo (Supervisor), Andrew Wernick, Chris Beyers
External Examiner: Zeba Crook, Carleton University
Internal Examiner: Michael Eamon
Chair: Veronica Hollinger
Abstract
A modern sense of historicism developed over time, bringing different texture to the intersection between history and fiction. The life of Jesus of Nazareth, prolifically researched after Herman Reimarus (1694-1768) right until today – a phenomenon known as The Quest for the Historical Jesus – provides an instructive case study for a wider discussion about the intersection between history and fiction in biography and autobiography. As a result of these centuries of Jesuanic research, a set of predictable challenges life-writing may need to confront can be identified. Furthermore, interesting historiographical criteria to detect factual authenticity versus factual inauthenticity for life-writing were also developed. Nevertheless, the depth of disagreement about a well-researched narrative such as the Jesuanic chronicle can eventually feel almost insurmountable. Pessimism, in fact, has become widespread. Thus, this dissertation raises the question: Is it but a vain attempt, this wish to search for truth that draws a sharp line between history and fiction? Hence, the discussion moves to Mikhail Bakhtin whose insistence on dialogism rather than truth seeking provides a more relational approach to appreciating the intersection between history and fiction in biography and autobiography.