Hermeneutics of Betrayal: Image of Judas Iscariot in 20th–21st Century Belles-Lettres

Abstract

Betrayal is an essentially pejorative notion. At the same time, it is a very polysemantic and broad ethical term. For us, “betrayal” is treason and sneaking, disclosure and concealment of secret plans, execution of an illegitimate order, and disobedience of orders. Those, who have recently been called traitors, often (and in a fairly short historical period) became heroes. Therefore, the problem arises: how we can reasonably say whether an action is treacherous? The justification procedure in ethics always entails a lot of paradoxes; when it comes to betrayal, the paradoxes become more obvious than in cases on which there has been an established consensus since ancient times: the murder of an innocent, theft, adultery, etc. To address the issue, the author of the article employs Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutic methodology and Alasdair MacIntyre´s ethical theory. In both cases, we need some kind of tales or narratives to substantiate our ethical assessments. “Real life” consists of individual events that are loosely connected and intrinsically lead nowhere, while any narrative presupposes coherence, a certain teleology, and thanks to this can easily fall into moral categories. The story of Judas Iscariot is certainly the fundamental narrative of betrayal. But this Gospel tale is so shrouded in a fog of innuendo and ambiguity that it has given rise to a wide variety of literary interpretations. Firstly, it is completely unnecessary for the history of Christ’s earthly life in general: it was possible to find, identify, and detain Jesus without Judas’ betrayal. Secondly, Judas’ motivation is unclear: the desire to get thirty pieces of silver seems too insignificant a reason. The article examines several literary versions of Judas´ betrayal, including those by Leonid Andreev, Jorge Luis Borges, Maximillian Voloshin, etc., to identify patterns that allow for a better understanding of any betrayal.

Keywords:

ethics, moral assessment, betrayal, Gospel, narrative, interpretation, event, conatus