Vividness in the Gospel of Luke

In this dissertation I argue that elements of experiential vividness in Luke represent the evangelist’s use of enargeia, a form of Greco-Roman rhetoric that aims to tell a story so vividly that audience members feel as though they are all but present in the story and experiencing it themselves. Texts that use the experiential vividness of enargeia are thus more impactful and persuasive for an audience, as enargeia mimics the effect of being an eyewitness and can make the narrated version of events seem true, or at least plausible. Enargeia in Luke has received little scholarly attention, likely because it is not associated with clear identifying features in ancient rhetorical texts and so can be quite difficult to study. However, scholars in classics have recently noted a strong resemblance between enargeia and the concept of “narrative immersion.” Narrative immersion refers to the experience of being so immersed in a story that the members of the audience feel as though they are all but present in the story themselves. As such, it involves the same type of experiential vividness that characterizes enargeia. Yet in contrast to enargeia, narrative immersion is associated with concrete textual features that can be clearly identified. The strong similarity between narrative immersion and enargeia has provided a way to identify and analyze an ancient author’s use of enargeia, and in this project I attend to features of narrative immersion in Luke to study the evangelist’s use of enargeia as part of his strategy to make his work more impactful for his audience.

在本博士论文中，笔者主张，《路加福音》中的体验式生动性元素，实则为福音书作者对具象叙事修辞（enargeia）的运用——这是一种古希腊-罗马修辞手法，旨在以极致生动的叙事，让受众仿若置身故事之中、亲身亲历事件。借助该手法营造的体验式生动性的文本，对受众而言更具感染力与说服力：因具象叙事修辞复刻了亲历目击者的观感，可令所叙事件显得真实可信，至少具备合理性。但学界对《路加福音》中的具象叙事修辞鲜有关注，究其原因，该手法在古代修辞文献中并无明确的识别特征，故而研究难度颇高。不过，近年来古典学学者注意到，具象叙事修辞与“叙事沉浸感（narrative immersion）”这一概念高度相似。所谓叙事沉浸感，指的是受众深度沉浸于叙事之中，仿若亲身置身故事场景的体验。就此而言，二者所蕴含的体验式生动性特征完全一致。但与具象叙事修辞不同的是，叙事沉浸感与可被清晰辨识的具体文本特征相关联。叙事沉浸感与具象叙事修辞的高度相似性，为识别与分析古代作者对具象叙事修辞的运用提供了可行路径。本研究即通过梳理《路加福音》中的叙事沉浸感特征，探究福音书作者运用具象叙事修辞的手法，以此作为其提升作品感染力的传播策略之一。