Religious Films in Zimbabwean Contexts

Film Reception Concerning Representations of Jesus

in International Journal of Public Theology
Author: Adam T. Shreve1
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1 University of Edinburgh, UK
Online Publication Date:
02 Jun 2015
Volume/Issue:
Volume 9: Issue 2
Article Type:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-12341392
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This article presents the author’s original research of a reception study of religious films amongst Shona peoples in the Gora and Chikara villages, which are located in the Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe. The two central questions of the author’s study are: First, in what ways might pre-existing Shona images of Jesus shape Shona responses to and interpretations of Jesus as he is portrayed in The Jesus Film (1979) and in indigenous, short, Jesus films in Zimbabwe today? Secondly, how might the viewing of these films affect these images of Jesus? This article addresses how indigenous, short Jesus films in Zimbabwe have manifested different representations of Jesus from the pervasive European image of Jesus that is perpetuated by The Jesus Film. This research is particularly relevant to current trends in media and technology, as the indigenous, short Jesus films are being distributed via mobile phones in Zimbabwe.

International Journal of Public Theology

eISSN:
1569-7320
Print ISSN:
1872-5171
Publisher:
BRILL
International Journal of Public Theology

Sections

References

1

John Heyman, The Jesus Film, (San Clemente: Inspirational Films, 1979, 2003).

2

Paul Eshleman, I Just Saw Jesus (San Bernardino: Here’s Life Publishers, 1985), p. 7.

3

The Jesus Film Project, ‘35th Anniversary Jesus Film Blu-Ray Disc’, Campus Crusade for Christ, (2014), para. 1, <http://www.jesusfilmstore.com/35th-Anniversary-JESUS-Film-Blu-Ray-Disc/productinfo/ZBRD-35TH-BLU-RAY> [accessed 13 November 2014].

4

The Jesus Film Project, ‘About Us’, Campus Crusade for Christ, (2014), para. 5, <http://jesusfilmhd.com/about-us> [accessed 13 November 2014].

5

Jolyon P. Mitchell, Media Violence and Christian Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 146.

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10

Karin Barber, ‘Preliminary Notes on Audiences in Africa’, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 67:3 (1997), 347–62 at 347; Birgit Meyer, ‘“Praise the Lord”: Popular Cinema and Pentecostalite Style in Ghana’s New Public Sphere’, American Ethnologist, 31:1 (2004), 92–110 at 92.

11

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13

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15

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19

Eshleman, I Just Saw Jesus, p. 59.

22

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23

Eshleman, I Just Saw Jesus, p. 46.

28

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31

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32

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33

Campbell and Pitts, The Bible on Film, p. 184.

35

Eshleman, I Just Saw Jesus, p. 46.

48

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50

Robert J.C. Young, Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001), p. 11.

54

Eshleman, The Touch of Jesus, pp. 44–5.

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