Date of Award
12-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Primary Advisor
Curt Niccum
Secondary Advisor
Cliff Barbarick
Committee Reader
Matthew Womble
Abstract
Many adaptations of “the Gospel” have been made in recent years, but few of these are sustained engagements with one of the four gospels in particular. Modern biblical scholarship is increasingly realizing, however, the narrative integrity of each gospel taken on its own terms. Though four-gospel canonical adaptations are legitimate, this thesis hopes to lay some groundwork for the adaptation of one gospel in particular, the Gospel of Mark, showing that such a project is both feasible and desirable. It will do so by 1) briefly exploring adaptation theory to clarify the goals and challenges such an adaptation would face, 2) investigating one element of Mark’s narrative—his use of wilderness—in depth, and 3) exploring the resources a modern form of storytelling, the Western novel of Cormac McCarthy, provides for adapting Mark. Though no adaptation will here be presented, this study hopes that these preliminary steps are sufficient to spark curiosity and to encourage adaptors to consider Mark, rather than an amalgam of the four gospels, for adaptation.
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Recommended Citation
Jowers, Nathan Kent, "The Red Wilderness: Mark and Modern Western Storytelling" (2018). Honors College. 62.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/honors/62