04_Biblica_1_A_Ossandon_Layout 1 05/11/12 12:18 Pagina 378 378 JUAN CARLOS OSSANDÓN characters 4. According to most narrative critics, there is no relevant distance between the narrator and the implied author, and between the narratee and the implied reader/audience in Mark, although these notions are conceptually different 5. Among the tools offered by narrative criticism, two will be es- pecially useful: the distinction between a plot of resolution and a plot of revelation, and the analysis of the narrative point of view. As far as I know, no scholar has applied these notions to Bartimaeus’ episode. To be sure, some authors have studied the point of view throughout Mark, but none of them has paid attention to this episode in particular 6. Before applying these concepts to Mark 10,46-52, a brief expla- nation of the concept “narrative point of view” is needed. I. Point of View: Some Preliminary Considerations The concept of “point of view”, also called “narrative perspect- ive” or “focalization”, has its origin in a spatial and psychological metaphor. It designates the standpoint of an observer with respect to what he or she observes, and, consequently, it refers also to how he or she sees it and to the distance between them. The observer (or “focus”) can be near or far, looking at a wide panoramic or con- centrating on a detail, remaining motionless or moving, etc. 4 I deal with the narrator as “he” and not “she” only for convention. For the terminology of narrative criticism, see J.L. SKA, “Our Fathers Have Told Us”. Introduction to the Analysis of Hebrew Narratives (SubBi 13; Roma 1990); D. MARGUERAT ‒ Y. BOURQUIN, Pour lire les récits bibliques. Initiation à l’analyse narrative (Paris 1998). 5 Malbon (Mark’s Jesus) does see a tension between the narrator and the implied author in Mark. For the narrator, Jesus is the Messiah (cf. Mark 1,1), but the position of the author is more complex, since, according to Malbon, Jesus does not accept this title. 6 N.R. PETERSEN, “Point of View in Mark’s Narrative”, Semeia 12 (1978) 97-121; J. DEWEY, “Point of View and the Disciples in Mark”, SBL Seminar Papers (ed. K.H. RICHARDS) (Chico, CA 1982) 97-106; V. BALAGUER, Testi- monio y tradición en San Marcos. Narratología del segundo evangelio (Pam- plona 1990); S.H. SMITH, A Lion with Wings. A Narrative-Critical Approach to Mark’s Gospel (Sheffield 1996) 166-191; B. WITHERINGTON III, The Gospel of Mark. A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI 2001) 59-62.