The Hermeneutics of Recognition: A Ricoeurian Interpretive Framework for Whites Preaching about Racism Open Access
Helsel, Carolyn Browning (2014)
Abstract
This dissertation examines the lack of sermons about racism from white preachers in predominantly white congregations and suggests three possible sources of such reticence: an insufficient understanding of the manifestations of racism today, an inability to perceive the salience of white racial identity, and an inadequate theological framework for preaching about racism as sin. The commonality between all three insufficiencies is the role of interpretation in assessing the meaning of racism, white racial identity, and racism as sin. Thus, I argue that in order to preach about racism, white preachers need a revised interpretive framework that can encompass the cognitive apprehension of racism, the personal formation required to work towards an anti-racist white racial identity, and the theological sensitivity to the pervasiveness of racism. After describing theoretical resources to respond to these sources of reticence, I propose a Ricoeurian interpretive framework called the hermeneutics of recognition, drawing from the work of hermeneutic phenomenologist Paul Ricoeur, particularly in his last book, The Course of Recognition. The hermeneutics of recognition include a three-part analysis of recognition-identification, self-recognition, and mutual recognition, and this final phase of mutual recognition is rooted in an image of gift exchange. For whites preaching on racism, I argue that the hermeneutics of recognition involve recognizing the manifestations of racism, recognizing oneself as white, and then moving toward mutual recognition out of gratitude. This gratitude emerges from the white preacher's dual awareness of the intractable nature of racism as sin and the generosity of God's redeeming grace in Jesus Christ. The three basic movements of the hermeneutics of recognition for whites preaching about racism are recognition-identification, recognition-personalization, and mutual recognition-gratitude. This dissertation argues that in order to overcome a reluctance to preach about racism, white preachers can employ an alternative interpretive framework, known as the hermeneutics of recognition, which includes acknowledging the difficulty of identifying racism, moving towards personal formation by recognizing the salience of one's white racial identity, and in preaching about racism out of the recognition that the depth of human sinfulness can only be redeemed by the gift of God that calls us to gratitude.
Table of Contents
Contents:
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. White Noise: Obstacles to White Preachers Preaching on Racism 15
A Conspicuous Absence of Sermons on Racism 15
Sources of White Preachers' Reticence 18
Attending to the Reticence: The Changing Meaning of Racism 20
The Continuing Significance of Race: The Role of Interpretation 23
The Centrality of "Interpretation" and Its Relationship to the Self 28
Interpreting White Racial Identity 32
Interpreting Racism Theologically 34
Converging Thinking, Feeling, and Acting: Ricoeur's Hermeneutic Philosophy 37
Literature Review 39
Thesis 43
Method and Summary of Chapters 45
Chapter 2. Changing the Subject: Conflicting Interpretations of the
Meaning of Racism 51
"Racism" in Sermons: Discourse Analysis of the Word-In-Use 53
Studying the Interpretive Framework of White Evangelicals 57
The Elusive Definition of Race and Racism 65
Contemporary Theories of Racism: "Racial Hegemony" and "Color-
Blind Racism" 69
Interpreting Racism: The Inheritance of a Racialized Society and Its
Justifications 79
Interpreting Preachers' Interpretive Frameworks for Understanding Racism 80
Chapter 3. Interpreting the (Im)Materialities of White Racial Identity 83
White Racial Identity Development: A Psychological Stage Model 89
White Subjects: An Ethnographic Approach to White Racial Identity 103
The Hermeneutic Horizons of White Racial Identity 117
Chapter 4. Naming Racism As Sin: The Sins of Sin-Talk and the Need for Grace 125
The "Sins of Sin-Talk": Stephen G. Ray and the Racism in Theological Discourse129
Naming Racism as Sin: The Metaphors of Idolatry, Estrangement, and Bondage 143
Conclusion 159
Chapter 5. Paul Ricoeur and the Course of Recognition 160
Introduction 160
Introducing Ricoeur's Course of Recognition 166
"Merely Semantics"?: Ricoeur Examines Lexicographical Definitions 169
Ricoeur Analyzes "Recognition" in Philosophy 175
Ricoeur on Recognition as Identification 177
Ricoeur on Recognition of the Self 185
Ricoeur on Mutual Recognition 201
Conclusions from Ricoeur on Mutual Recognition 226
Chapter 6. The Hermeneutics of Recognition 228
The Course of Recognition and the Hermeneutics of Recognizing Racism 230
Speech Acts and Semantics: Beginning the Process of Recognition-Identification 231
Self-Recognition as Personalization of What Has Been Recognized 238
Toward Mutual Recognition: Gratitude 243
Sermonic Application: Responding to the George Zimmerman Acquittal 248
Conclusion 252
Appendix 255
Methodology 256
Bibliography 259
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