Amahoro is a conference about postcolonial church in Africa, exploring the consequences for the church now that colonialism (in its classic sense) has ended. We're interested in how Christianity enmeshed with the colonial project of Europe, so that the civilised White Man could bring the light of the Gospel to the Dark Continent of Africa, so that the savages could be introduced to Jesus, Civilisation, and Title Deeds.
postmodernism
The usual misunderstanding of postmodernism and deconstruction
"Postmodernism" is a loaded word for South African Christians: it polarises people into binary opposites before either side has said anything. It either means that you are doing some really cutting-edge things when it comes to cultural engagement for the sake of the gospel, or it means that you don't believe in truth, the Bible or much else.
If you research postmodernism a little, you'll come across Jacques Derrida, who coined the word "deconstruction."
Most people I know haven't a clue what deconstruction is, but think they do, and use their understanding incorrectly (I know: I used to be one of them).
Below I've posted a few extracts from John Caputo's book, "Deconstruction in an nutshell" (1997) (which has helped me to understand what deconstruction actually is) where he talks about the reaction Derrida has provoked. If you exchange "Derrida" for "the emerging church conversation" you may get a sense of why many of us are frustrated with people who criticise us before they actually understand what it is we're saying. I post this because of the strong resonances with critics of postmodernism and the emerging church conversation in South Africa at present.
Technorati Tags: deconstruction Emerging Church Jacques Derrida John Caputo postmodern postmodernism
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