താൾ:13E3287.pdf/32

വിക്കിഗ്രന്ഥശാല സംരംഭത്തിൽ നിന്ന്
ഈ താളിൽ തെറ്റുതിരുത്തൽ വായന നടന്നിരിക്കുന്നു

particular time, and which has granted such an important role to the
speaker and his hearers, or the writer and his readers, that particular
linguistic forms are found necessary as a vehicle for expression.23

The statements Koch makes for the biblical exegesis are also true
for all old texts: "Form criticism is only a few decades old, but already it has
made its impact: no biblical text can be adequately understood without a
consideration of the setting in life of its literary type. And vice versa: no
way of life in ancient Israel and in the early Christian community can be
exhaustively detailed without a thorough study of all literary types relating
to it. To establish the setting in life of a text the following questions must
be posed: "Who is speaking? Who is listening? What is the prevailing mood? What effect is sought?"24

Again we can apply to Indian philology what Koch concludes in his
chapter Relationship to the Ancient Oriental and Hellenistic Cultic and
Social History: "If the language of the Bible brings us reliable information
about the revelation of the one God and about the ultimate determination
of human existence, the form it takes has not only been greatly influenced
by the languages of the ancient world but also by the cultic and social
conditions of the nations who were the neighbours of Israel and the early
Christian church. It is not enough to show how Israel and early Christianity
differed from the neighbouring nations and cultures; it is just as essential
to determine exactly how they were connected, intellectually as well as
institutionally. Only then will the form-critical recognition of the link
between literary type and setting in life, between language and external
history, have serious theological meaning'.25

As soon as texts or literary types experience a transition to other
setting in life, they continue to exist-at least for sometime. This is evident
especially when a particular setting in life or even a whole way of living
comes to an end and the literary types are severed from their place of origin.
Koch explains: "Because of the close connection between speech and life
any change in a setting in life, and therefore in national, economic,
religious and cultural history, will result in changes in the literary types.
Gunkel brought out this link very strongly with regard to the folk-sagas of
Genesis: "When a new race arrives and changes the outward conditions of
life, or displaces the customary lines of thought whether on religious or
moral ideals or the conception of beauty, then in the long run the national
saga must also change.26 For the context in Kerala this is expecially evident
when Sanskrit texts or texts of any other Indian language are incorporated
into Malayalam. It is fascinating to trace the course of a tradition back to
its earliest stages. In order to achieve a real understanding of a text it is
essential to look deeper into it and not merely study its present form. Koch
correctly says: "The most critical moment with all traditions which were

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