Augustine, the Confessions
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Augustine, the Confessions
（Landmarks of world literature）
Cambridge University Press, 1993
- : hbk
- : pbk
- Other Title
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Confessions
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-110)
Description and Table of Contents
Description
When Augustine wrote his Confessions in the last years of the fourth century, he was just over forty and had abandoned a successful career for a life of prayer and study. He interpreted his past life as a search for God, in which understanding and commitment had been frustrated by wrong education, mistaken ambition, sexual desire and sinful nature. Some readers are inspired by his brilliance and devotion, others think he misread his own past. This book discusses the transformation of Augustine's own life and of the late Roman world, the structure, style and purpose of the Confessions, and the problems of rhetoric and truth posed by Augustine's account of himself. It concludes with a brief overview of the influence of this landmark text in the history of European culture.
Table of Contents
- Part I. Augustine's World: 1. Africa: world politics
- 2. Thagaste: family, church and school
- 3. Carthage: rhetoric and religion
- 4. Africa to Italy: Manichees and pagans
- 5. Milan: worldly success and renunciation
- 6. Return to Africa: monks and bishops
- Part II. Genre: Describing a Life: 7. 'The first ten books are about me ...'
- 8. 'I want to know all about you'
- 9. Spiritual biography
- Part III. True Confessions? Narrative and Memory: 10. What really happened?
- 11. Multiple readings and exegesis
- 12. Narrative and memory
- 13. Telling stories
- 14. Augustine's conversion
- Part IV. Speaking the Truth: Rhetoric and Style: 15. Sermo humilis and variation of style
- 16. Intertexts: Bible, classical culture and philosophy
- 17. Hearing the Confessions
- Part V. Finding Meanings: Augustine at Carthage
- Part VI. Reading The Confessions.
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