Evocata
"Ihr naht euch wieder, schwankende Gestalten,
Die früh sich einst dem trüben Blick gezeigt."
—Goethe
"Ihr naht euch wieder, schwankende Gestalten,
Die früh sich einst dem trüben Blick gezeigt."
—Goethe
The three episodes currently presented communicate the concept well enough, staging an end, the beginning, and an early middle. The underlying story is familiar and well ritualized; my handling of it less so, though its precedents are obvious enough, though this one supplies no audio track.
Three tellings of the Jesus legend were envisioned. This one would adhere most closely to a straight path gospel, primitive theology, supernatural fabulation, and all. The other two would demythologize the story, something that Biblical Studies has done long ago with few fictional presentations catching up, exceptions being D.H. Lawrence's The Escaped Cock and Colm Tóibín's Testament of Mary. Would Evocata's contributions to the literature have been as satirical as those by strong novelists? There's no way to predict. Stories often evolve a direction of their own while being set down. The primary aim was to popularize the results of the quest for the historical Jesus, which had gained a second wind as the 20th century closed. There would be two tellings to reflect how there's no consensus on the course the career of the historical Jesus took. A fourth story would tell of a contemporary anthropologist's engagement with this quest. But I encounters serious arguments that she would find nothing to get to the bottom of, no historical Jesus to uncover.
I found them persuasive. The Jesus of faith and fancy could well be the only one we'll ever know, assuming he doesn't confront us in an afterlife or materialize among the clouds from a hidden dimension, come to purge a wayward world.
Had I continued, Bro John's Good Buzz would have let the source text's theology stand as is, even though turning its story into a political parable. The project emerged during a different time, the Obama era, when a peaceable, integrated society seemed feasible and the underlying Sioux = Jew allegory seemed less problematic. I was certainly aware that I was reworking the most anti-Semitic canonical gospel, written in its early drafts by the Evangelist most steeped in Jewish tradition and lore. Go figure.
For some time now, something much different has been in the works for Evocata, though it will take some time— no, don't lie– quite a long time before some form of it posts here.
As for Brother John, his adventure may continue in a context that will make more sense to me. Though he might appear a gentle soul, yet he may also show himself quite the trickster.
—acTownsend, January 2015, revised July 2020, April 2022, July 2023.