African Hermeneutics: The Current State - Theology In Africa

specific factors, although not limited to these, which have had direct bearings on
the development of feminist hermeneutics into what it is today, as will be
discussed in the survey to follow.
An assessment of the current state of feminist hermeneutics in Africa could be
described with a single word: Reconstructionism. In his survey on ‘trends’
within feminist exegetical method, Gerald West identifies one overriding
approach by Africa’s women, one characterised by historical and social
reconstructionist intentions (West 1991:79). He refers to this as reading
‘behind’ the text, i.e., an exegesis concerned with reconstructing the socio-
historical setting of a text to extract the message ‘behind’ the text (Ibid.). The
motivation behind this method is to give due recognition to the people, mostly
women, behind the text. This is a prime example of how the previously
mentioned ‘formative factors’ manifests itself in the current state of this
hermeneutical method. Many women contended, as West observed, that the
Bible does not always give due recognition to the people ‘behind’ the text
because of its androcentricism” (Ibid. Emphasis Added). This is particularly
relevant to the role of women in the Bible which has by and large been confined
to less pronounced positions. Many women would have no reservation in
admitting that Scripture, in general, is not projected towards women, but on the
other hand, an equal amount of women would have no reservation in admitting
that the life and ministry of Christ is, in fact, the prime example of practical
‘feminist social justice’. Before looking at specific examples it is, at this point,
worth coming back to the work of Prof. Fiorenza. As mentioned earlier, her
work has been very influential in the formation of modern African feminism and
her methods have largely been employed, although adapted, as the norm in
feminist exegesis. A very prominent theme in Prof. Fiorenza’s work, upon
which Africa’s women have developed extensively, is the doctrine of justice; as
Cochrane explains: “Woman, however, asserts that the Biblical theme of justice
includes freedom from the bondage of male-oppression (1991:22, Emphasis
Added). It is here where the practical outworking of ‘reconstructionism’ can be
observed. Cochrane continues: “A feminist interpretation of the Bible will
always require a critical mind capable of differentiating between the liberating
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