John Barton, the Nature of Biblical Criticism

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"In origin, an exegete was someone who drew out the meanings of texts, but a guide to a sacred place, who <led the visitor out> to see it and explain it, a kind of tour guide. ... The exegete's task is to help the reader to understand the text, not to bring out and restate the meaning in such a way that the text is evacuated of its content and replaced with the exegete's interpretation, but to lead the reader <into> the text to appreciate what it has to say and to communicate. ... Exegetes' guided tours of the text will involve noticing many blooms that are not part of its literal content, but also being able to distinguish them from the weeds that come only from their own imaginations."
- John Barton, the Nature of Biblical Criticism, 112, 116. 

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확실히 문학비평은 객체를 지향하는 '신성한 낭만주의'처럼 보이지만, 그것은 오히려 해석자의 창조적/세속적 인격을 100% 땡겨와서 텍스트와 상호작용하는 주체성을 강조한다. 그러고 보면, 역사비평은 전수된 텍스트의 여러 과정들과 그 배경들을 재구성하는 주체 중심의 '세속적 낭만주의'이지만, 그것은 오히려 텍스트에 더욱 집중하려는 객체집착이 만들어낸 기현상이다.