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Imitating Paul: A Discourse of Power
By Elizabeth A. Castelli
Louisville, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991. 168 pp. $15.95.

In this book, Elizabeth Castelli adapts the post-structuralist methodology of Michel Foucault to an examination of Paul's use of "imitation" (mimesis) in his letters. The name of Foucault is still virtually unknown in biblical studies, despite the considerable relevance of his work to study of the social and literary aspects of the texts. Castelli here helps to clarify and illustrate the importance of Foucault's ideas to the study of biblical and related texts.

After a review of the current state of opinions on Paul's use of mimesis, Castelli presents a brief but quite helpful introduction to Foucault's thought. This highlights the theme of "the same and the

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different" on which she builds her analysis of the Pauline texts. She explores the use of the term mimesis in ancient literature, and she establishes that it refers to a power relation between a superior model and subordinate mimic.

Castelli then shows how this understanding of mimesis illuminates Paul's usage of "imitation" in 1 Thessalonians, Philippians, 1 Corinthians, and a similar passage (where the word does not appear) in Galatians. She demonstrates that by connecting imitation (of himself) to salvation, Paul effectively leaves no room for "the other" in the early communities to which he wrote and, hence, eventually (as his writings became normative) in the dominant forms of Christianity. She concludes by extending the relevance of the Foucauldian method and of her own observations on the Pauline literature to the contemporary world.

The Foucauldian approach attends very closely to discourse, and it is particularly interested in rhetorical "effects." Foucauldian criticism explores the ideological contexts and the material effects of acts of reading. For Foucault, the text is the product of a discursive formation, a phase in the constant transformation of human language, culture, and ideology that permits certain sorts of things to be said, and prohibits the saying of others. This formation does not appear in the form of an external, explicit law, but in an implicit, largely unconscious sense of the "natural." Mimesis "articulates and rationalizes as true and natural a particular set of power relations within the social formation of early Christian communities." Only by establishing an "ironic distance" between herself and the presentation of this naturalness can the reader recognize the artificiality of the entire construct.

Castelli's short book is little more than a sketch of the issues involved. She makes a strong argument, but it needs further development. The connections between her conclusion and the preceding chapters need to be strengthened, and the theme of "same and different," which is crucial to her argument, would also benefit from more exploration. As I have worked with Elizabeth Castelli on a joint writing project for the last several years, I know that she has a great deal more of value to say on this subject.

Within the structure that she uncovers, imitation (of Paul) is essential to salvation. However, as Castelli notes, the concept of mimesis has built into it a structure of frustration: The mimic wants to become identical to the model, yet by definition the copy can never be the equal of its original. The mimic is doomed to failure. Furthermore, Paul has a rather serious identity problem: his own desire, as part of his rhetoric of mimesis, to equate himself (as mimic/copy) to Christ (as model/origin). Paul is both model and mimic, and thus his identity is "split."

This would seem to reinscribe difference into Paul's totalitarian demands for sameness. Is Paul himself far weirder than anything a " good Christian" might want to imitate? Does the Pauline language

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deconstruct itself at this point? Who is excluded from the Pauline system of imitation? Or better yet, can anyone be included in it?

I recommend Elizabeth Castelli's book highly. It offers an original contribution to biblical studies, both as critical, textual study and as methodological innovation. Imitating Paul was originally her dissertation, but it retains few of the stuffy formalities long associated with that genre. The book is written in a clear, engaging style; Castelli has tried hard to avoid the confusing technical terminology one encounters so often in post-structuralist analyses, and she has also supplied helpful definitions wherever the terminology cannot be avoided. Although the book is addressed to specialists, it could be used as an introduction (for advanced students) to its methodological approach. However, it also stands well as an original piece of research, and it will likely have lasting impact on Pauline studies.

George Aichele
Adrian College
Adrian, MI