Theology, Culture and U2: Session 1

August 29, 2006. Introduction, and How to Exegete a Song: "City of Blinding Lights."

The primary agenda of the first class session was twofold: to read through the syllabus and to introduce the class. The reading of the syllabus entailed a description of the course, introduction of the texts and discussion of assignments. The syllabus is the course "contract" so I encourage students to ask questions and give input.

The second half of the class session included a discussion of several foundational concepts for the semester: an understanding of the class as a learning space, a working definition of theology, a description of basic interpretive skills and a case study using "City of Blinding Lights."

One of my goals for this semester is to create what Parker Palmer calls "a space for learning." He pleads for an active and engaging learning environment, not one in which students sit passively and are expected to parrot back the information they believe the professor is calling for. Since I already blogged on this topic, you can read more here if interested.

Another topic for the class session was to suggest a working definition of theology. I have chosen to use John Franke's work from The Character of Theology.

Christian theology is an ongoing, second-order, contextual discipline that engages in the task of critical and constructive reflection on the beliefs and practices of the Christian church for the purpose of assisting the community of Christ's followers in their missional vocation to live as the people of God in the particular social-historical context in which they are situated." (44)

Franke emphasizes the ongoing, second-order and contextual nature of theology. This will be helpful as we examine the theology of U2 and their consistent use of theological themes to address current issues, often times forsaking the traditional modes of theological understanding and application.

Next, we reviewed Paul Ricoeur's three step process for interpretation of a literary text. Ricoeur suggests that there is a World Behind the Text (a particular context in which the piece was written), a World in the Text (the actual words of a piece and their original meaning, being careful not to separate any piece from its whole), and a World in Front of the Text (this is the particular context of the reader and the environment in which a piece is read and interpreted). This model can be used for all literature including scripture. I want to suggest that it is also a way to exegete a song.

Finally, I examined "City of Blinding Lights" in depth with the class. We used Ricoeur's methodology to learn about "City." Behind the text we find that two of Bono's inspirations and influences for the writing of this song were the 9/11 terrorist attack and a photo exhibit that featured pictures of him when he was twenty years old. In the text we can look at individual lines and see how they contribute to larger meaning. In front of the text we are able to make interpretation and application of the song in our context. I related the meaning that this song had come to have for me as I work with ministry leaders in inner-city Los Angeles (see my previous post on "City" in three parts here: 1, 2, 3).

Interested in reading a more detailed account? You can download my class notes here. Find my PowerPoint presentation here. Leave comments and let me know what you agree or disagree with.

Comments

[Beth]

I'm just so impressed with this. I especially like the way you've used Ricoeur to set up a paradigm right away for talking about different aspects of meaning in a text/song -- confusion about these is where so much conversation about lyrics founders.

[Tim]

Thanks for the words and for the link on U2 Sermons Beth.

I find a a lot of people reading the blog material but few willing to comment. Anybody else have an opinion about the first session of the class?

[Erik Swanson]

I read that you may need someone to talk about U2..I have been a fan for over 20 years and I would be happy to help at any time.