Theology and literature
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Theology and literature
(Signposts in theology)
B. Blackwell, 1988
- : pbk
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Note
Bibliography: p. [233]-237
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book examines the relationship between theology and literature, providing a theoretical framework for a potential poetics of faith. It studies as systematically as possible the ways in which literary forms produce theological meaning. It begins with an attack upon literalism, the assumption that language is transparent upon reality, and upon formalism, the limitation of literary criticism to formal properties of texts without concern for their referential capacity. It continues with a chapter on the Bible in which Dr Wright illustrates the kinds of insight literary criticism can bring, focusing in particular upon Genesis and Mark. A chapter on "narrative theology" considers the central role of story within the Christian tradition, whether history, myth or fiction. Religious autobiography and the novel are studied as prime examples of the construction through literary language of a sense of the self, of God and of the world. A chapter on "metaphysical theology" analyzes the ways in which poetry stretches language beyond its normal limits to refer to God. The dynamics of metaphor, symbolism, paradox and ambiguity are all examined in a variety of texts from Tertullian to R.S.
Thomas. The final chapter looks at the theological significance of drama both in the liturgy and on the stage. The liturgical drama of the Middle Ages made the two inseparable but Renaissance tragedy and modern absurdity dramatize conflicting elements within seemingly stable ideologies, disrupting and yet contributing to the theological project. The book is aimed at students of literary form and theology.
Table of Contents
- Chapter One: Towards a Poetics of Faith
- 1. Theology and Literature: A Creative Tension 2. Literalism: The Common Enemy 3. Theology: A Matter of Language 4. Literature: The Point of Reference
- Chapter Two: On Reading the Bible as Literature
- 1. Literary Criticism of the Bible 2. The Readability of Genesis 3. The Meanings of Mark's Story
- Chapter Three: Narrative Theology: The Stories of Faith
- 1. Narrative: Myth and History 2. Religious Autobiography: Writing God and the Self 3. The Novel: From Metaphysics to Metafiction
- Chapter Four: Metaphorical Theology: The Poetry of Faith
- 1. The Dynamics of Metaphor: Metaphysical Wit 2. Symbol and Sacrament: The Romantic Imagination 3. Paradox and Ambiguity: The Modern Dilemma
- Chapter Five: Theology and Drama: Acts of Faith and Doubt
- 1. Liturgical Drama: From the Mass to the Mystery Plays 2. Renaissance: Tragedy and Reformation Theology 3. The Theatre of the Absurd: Godotology
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