| abstract | This dissertation focuses on three female slaves—characters found in Luke 22, Acts 12, and Acts 16. Using Bakhtinian theory,
feminist hermeneutics, and Kristeva's intertextuality, I analyze these characters and argue they are "truth-tellers." I suggest that Luke's female slaves function
in a unique way within the narrative, as outsiders to the action of the main plot, because of their gender and status. As outsiders, the slave-girls are in a position
to see what other characters do not, truth that illuminates aspects of Lukan discipleship and the apostolic message. The first slave-girl that I explore is found in
Luke 22, within the narrative of Peter's denial. As an unnamed slave she is an outsider to the other characters in the story, yet, she is the first to recognize
Peter and question him concerning his relationship to Jesus. Ultimately, the narrative juxtaposes the themes of truth and deception through her gaze, outsidedness,
position in the light of the fire, and her perceptive statement. The second slave, Rhoda, comically enters the carnivalesque scene found in Acts 12 disguised in the
trope of the servus currens. I argue that Rhoda functions in an ambivalent way--humorously as a servus currens and seriously as a truth-teller. The third and final
slave-girl disrupts the narrative of Acts 16 with her loud voice and perseverant following of Paul and Silas. This female slave is often juxtaposed with Lydia,
who is the "positive" example while the slave is Luke's "negative" example. My analysis overturns this juxtaposition, as I show that the slave-girl's outsidedness
allows her to speak truth, while Lydia's insidedness limits her participation in the narrative. Together, these three slaves interrupt the narrative of Luke-Acts
with their hierarchal reversals and words of truth. They each come into contact with free male apostles, Peter and Paul; their words disrupt the representations
of the apostles. Their positionality enable them to see truth and the shifts of focalization that occur in the narrative highlight their words. In this way, these
three slave-girls are sites of hidden truth, and their voices and roles are vital to the narrative of Luke-Acts. |
