Regina Berlinghof


Miryam. Mary Magdalene and Jesus - Novel

Reviews on Miryam:

 

Frankfurter Rundschau, Pentecost 1999, 22.-24.05.1999

 

"Truly a love story. In this broad-spun and high-spirited novel the author does not so much focus on historical interpretations or a false actualization of the sparse historical evidence. She plays with the manifold relations between the old times and the present. Berlinghof composes this skilfully and with feeling for style, and she opens new insight on allegedly all too known events."

 

Regina Berlinghof: Mirjam

 

Well, the Jesus thing. How many authors of tracts and novels from Wallece's Ben Hur to Walter Jens' The Judas Case have taken it up and used the reports of the Evangelists and the Apostles' Acts as quarries for drafts of their own visions? The influence of the theological literary critique on authors of so-called "Christian literature" has diminished nowadays. This can also be detected in Regina Berlinghof's Jesus-novel Miryam. Mary of Magdala here is the centre, the whore, the mistress of Rav Jeshua who is supposed to be the Messiah.

Truly a love story. In this broad-spun but high-spirited novel the author does not so much focus on historical interpretations or a false actualization of the sparse historical evidence (though she relies on Flavius Josephus historical scriptures). She plays with the manifold relations between the old times and the present. It is the interplay between the very familiar and the alien, the close and the far away, the Jesus of Nazaret and the Christ in the costume of the day. Berlinghof composes this skilfully and with feeling for style, and she opens new insight on allegedly all too known events.

The novel and its protagonists Jesus, Mary, Judas, Pilate are in clear contrast to the tradition of the New Testament and its understanding of salvation. But Berlinghof proves herself as a remembrance artist. She embeds "Miryam" in a modern story within a story, and narrates the reality of today in the mode of remembrance. This is truly a chance if writers and their concern are taken seriously. It requires remembering the mutual critical challenge that literature and theology have to face.

 

Regina Berlinghof: Mirjam. Maria Magdalena und Jesus, Eschborn 1997, 550 pages), 48 DEM. min"

  

  

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