Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§8.3 The Tradition
to designate 'a mode of signification wherein the part stands for the whole', in
which a text 'is enriched by an unspoken context that dwarfs the textual artifact'.
170 He can thus speak of 'the unifying role of tradition', able to give consistency
within the diversity of performance because of the traditional referentiality
of the text. Oral traditional texts imply an audience with the background to respond
faithfully to the signals encoded in the text, to bridge the gaps of indeterminacy
and thus to 'build' the implied consistency. 171 In short, performance is
the enabling event, tradition the enabling referent. 172
Horsley applies Foley's thesis to Q: Q should be seen as the transcript of
one performance among many of an oral text, 'a libretto that was regularly performed
in an early Jesus movement'; its metonymic context of reception would
be Israelite (as distinct from Judean) cultural traditions. 173 Draper likewise takes
up the idea of metonymic referencing, noting that it will be culturally determined
and that a single word or phrase will often summarize in telescoped form a whole
aspect of the culture and tradition of the people; he goes on to read Q 12.49-59 as
an example, concluding that its metonymic reference is not apocalyptic but
prophetic-covenantal. 174
Horsley and Draper have their own particular axes to grind (haven't we
all?). But the blend of insights from earlier oral tradition theory with contemporary
literary theory provided by Foley is of wider significance and its potential
has still to be fully explored in regard to the Jesus tradition. I hope the present
work will constitute a step in that direction.
h. Kenneth Bailey
What has been missing in all this has been a sufficiently close parallel to the oral
traditioning which presumably was the initial mode of and vehicle for the Jesus
170. Foley, Immanent Art chs. 1 and 2 (particularly 6-13 and 42-45; quotations from 7
and 40-41). The argument is developed in Singer of Tales in Performance chs. 1-3.
171. Foley, Immanent Art 44, 47-48. He can even argue that the responsibility of the
'reader' of an oral traditional text is 'to attempt to become as far as possible the audience implied
by that text . . .' (54-55).
172. A central thesis of Singer of Tales in Performance 28. See also Vansina, Oral Tradition
as History, on 'Performance': 'The tale must be well known to the public if the performance
is to be a success for the audience must not be overly preoccupied with the task of trying
to follow painstakingly what is being told in order to enjoy the tale. They must already know
the tale so that they can enjoy the rendering of its various episodes, appreciate the innovations,
and anticipate the thrills still to come. So every performance is new, but every performance presupposes
something old: the tale itself (35).
173. Horsley and Draper, Whoever 160-74.
174. Horsley and Draper, Whoever 181-94.
205