Alphacrucis College
Feasting with good humour? Multimodal retellings of the Parable of the Great Banquet
In the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14: 15-24) “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” are unexpectedly invited to the banquet in place of those with social standing. According to Ricoeur (1978) “to listen to the parables… is to let one’s imagination be opened to the new possibilities disclosed by the extravagance of these short dramas”. It seems natural to employ humour when evoking the unexpected extravagance of this celebration in a contemporary retelling. The proposed paper will consider picture book and short animation retellings of this parable, and consider whether there are any dangers in using humour in these multimodal formats. Can a celebration of God’s extravagant love be unhelpfully depicted as carnivalesque excess? Do humorous multimodal retellings risk reverting to a mocking stance towards those with a disability? Is there the potential for visual humour to reinscribe social hierarchies rather than to promote the inclusivity of the kingdom of God? Are there ways to capture the joy of messianic feasting without using an overlay of humour in the retelling? Is it, on the other hand, a parable that invites the use of humour in retellings? The paper will examine how word and image work together in these multimodal texts to convey meaning for contemporary audiences, and reflect on how this interplay could takeaudiences in different theological directions as they contemplate the Parable of the Great Feast. Ricoeur P (1978) Listening to the Parables of Jesus. In: The Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur: An Anthology of His Work. Boston: Beacon Press, pp. 239–245.