Nativity and Violence: Intertextual and Theological Explorations of Biblia pauperum nova in the Classroom and Beyond
What is the connection between the birth of Jesus in Luke 2, Cain's killing of Abel in Gen 4, and the binding of Isaac in Gen 22? The three scenes are combined in one image in Biblia pauperum nova by the Danish picturebook creators Oscar K. (words) and Dorte Karrebæk (images) (Copenhagen: Alfa, 2012). Together with three colleagues, I brought Biblia pauperum nova into a high school classroom to allow the students to explore and discuss this unorthodox and thought-provoking adaptation of the gospels and the medieval Biblia pauperum. We told the students to engage with two spreads in particular, one of which was the Nativity scene. The intertextual and intervisual play on this spread proved difficult for the students to grasp. The violent images combined with Joseph wearing a Star of David produced uncertainty and Holocaust associations. In my paper presentation, I analyzed the student discussion and considered intertextual, intervisual and theological potentials that the students did not explore – including the corresponding image in the medieval Biblia pauperum.
Published in XIII Nordic New Testament Conference (NNTC), 2026
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