I’ve decided my approach to Paul and Christ-movement social identity may be described as mashup. I take data from two (or more) different sources and combine them into something new. Here is what is sounds like when Party Ben combines The Police and Snow Patrol.
So, I am wondering if mashup is the future of biblical studies? I’ve been amazed how much has been written in Pauline studies in the last few years and the field might benefit from a few DJs mixing things up resulting in densely complex and aesthetically pleasing scholarship. So, rather than using Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory/self-categorization theory by itself, what if we combined it with Stryker and Burke’s identity theory. Or better yet, add some poststructuralist identities consideration into the mix. When we combine these resources with Paul’s fragmentary discourse what would result: fresh insights or scholarship that misses the mark? Maybe this would be like combining Beyonce with Andy Griffith but hey aren’t there single ladies in Mayberry?
If so, maybe using the image of music mashup is 'Just What I Needed' to trigger creative scholarly insights. What do you think?
