Can the Caananite Other Speak?

An excerpt from “Can the Caananite Other Speak? The agency of the Other and the sign of Jonah” by Dr. Seung Ai Yang, delivered in public Convocation at Chicago Theological Seminary, October 13, 2010

Indeed, the similarity of the two stories (the story of healing the centurion’s boy and the story of the Canaanite woman) is conspicuous. In the centurion’s story, a man is concerned about his boy, and Jesus commends his faith. His boy is healed instantly. In our story, a woman is concerned about her girl, and Jesus commends her faith, and the girl is healed instantly. But it is interesting that almost everything else makes striking contrast between these two stories, and most particularly, the attitude of Jesus. When the centurion, a Roman military commander, approaches Jesus and tells him that his servant is very sick, Jesus voluntarily offers to help, even before he requests any help.  It is almost impossible not to notice multiple discriminations by Jesus, who obviously privileges the Roman soldier against the Canaanite woman. In terms of sex and gender, Jesus privileges man over woman; in terms of race and ethnicity, he privileges Roman over Canaanite; in terms of social class, he privileges military commander, a public officer, over a mother, an ordinary individual; in terms of geopolitical power, he privileges the imperial military over the colonized subject; and in terms of language, he privileges the formal and reserved tone which often represents a higher rank of a social class over a desperate crying out for help which more often represents common people. What's wrong with this Matthean Jesus?  The answer must be found in that she is a woman, and she is the Canaanite Other.

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In her most famous essay titled “Can the subaltern speak?” Gayatry Spivak argues that the subaltern cannot speak, not because she cannot enunciate words but because people do not hear her who speaks in her own language. According to Spivak, People impose the dominant language of the society as a communication tool to everyone and do not intend to hear the language of the subaltern. In the Canaanite story, despite his strong initial hesitation, Jesus eventually hears the voice of the Canaanite Other. The Canaanite Other has the agency to speak and to transform Jesus. The question for us now and here is, then: “Can the Other speak?”