Current PhD Research Students
Geraldine Mitchell
Postgraduate Research
Email: geraldine.mitchell@tudublin.ie
Tel: #
Geraldine Mitchell is a lecturer in German on the Tallaght campus of TU Dublin and has taught at Third Level for over 30 years. After her undergraduate studies at UCD, Geraldine spent almost six years living in Berlin and experienced the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification in 1990.
Geraldine has taught German on undergraduate programmes in Engineering, Science, Business and Humanities. In recent years she has also supported students with Academic English writing.
Title of research project
Crime and Punishment: from Anthropomorphism in the Hebrew Bible to Bonhoeffer and Rebus.
Abstract
In The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle reasons that the ideal in life is that people choose to do just acts, acts that are lawful and fair. The reality is that people stray far from this principle. The bestselling book in the world, the Bible, contains stories that are familiar in popular culture (Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, David and Goliath are such examples). The crimes and punishments meted out, often through an anthropomorphised God and prevalent in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), tend to be either less known or less dwelt upon. Yet these violent acts and ensuing punishments are reflected in modern-day true crime and crime fiction. In this comparative study, the writings of the German pastor, theologian and Hitler opponent, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) (representing the true crime aspect) and the early Inspector Rebus novels by the Scottish writer, (Sir) Ian Rankin (b. 1960) are being investigated to ascertain where they mirror crimes and punishment in the Hebrew Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings demonstrated the depth and breadth of his thinking, and he is still widely studied and respected.
Bonhoeffer’s magnum opus, Ethics (edited and published posthumously in German in 1949) deals with the concept of evil in the world; other writings of Bonhoeffer are also being scrutinised to determine links to the Hebrew Bible. The Inspector Rebus crime novels of Ian Rankin set the standard for tartan-noir crime writing from the late 1980s on. Rankin developed his character over a series of 24 novels, even ‘resurrecting’ Rebus from retirement after a gap of five years. This research project therefore also aims to establish where the crimes of the Hebrew Bible find resonance in the fictitious crimes investigated in a selection of these Rebus novels.
Supervisors
Dr Eamon Maher and Dr Brian A. Murphy