Border-crossing and the Samaritan Traveler: The crossing of borders in the parable of the "Good Samaritan" (Lk 10:25-37)

Abstract

Border-crossing is a defining subject in the contemporary field of postcolonial studies. Situating the parable of the Good Samaritan within this landscape, the present study engages the dynamism of border-crossing in the popular parable of the Good Samaritan. While the parable of the Good Samaritan has been studied from varieties of methodologies and perspectives, the mechanics of border markings - within the fictionality of border space - has generally escaped this study. Using social identity theory in this direction, the work probes the dynamics of group border markings in the characterization of this story - and the significance of this border polemics in the mapping of Luke-Acts. Consequently, the paper offers fresh perspectives to this popular parable in the different negotiations of border markings and the polemics of otherness in this story.