Deakin University
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

"Your faith has made you well": the role of storytelling in the experience of miraculous healing

journal contribution
posted on 2001-12-01, 00:00 authored by Andrew SingletonAndrew Singleton
Instances of "successful" miraculous physical healing are now commonplace in contemporary Pentecostal and charismatic Christian churches throughout the world. Previous empirical studies of this phenomenon have overlooked the role the social practice of storytelling plays in relation to these experiences. Analyzing a number of oral stories which describe instances of miraculous healing, this study examines how the act of telling a story enables informants to interpret their experiences as a "miracle." This preferred interpretation of events is produced through the ways the informants fashion their stories to privilege particular cultural meanings and suppress others and through the depiction of characters who appear in a miraculous healing story. The study concludes with an analysis of how the widespread circulation of miraculous healing stories sustains the practice of praying for miraculous healing whilst also creating reality for a community.

History

Journal

Review of religious research

Volume

43

Issue

2

Pagination

121 - 138

Publisher

Springer

Location

Dordrecht, The Netherlands

ISSN

0034-673X

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

[2001, Springer]

Usage metrics

    Research Publications

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC