ENGL 40142 - Religion and Literature

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

This course has as its essential context the crisis of authority of discourse in the modern period subsequent to literature gaining independence from Christianity. It focuses specifically on the three main postures literature strikes vis-à-vis confessional forms of Christianity no longer thought to have cultural capital. 1) The antithetical posture. Here Christianity is viewed in exclusively negative terms as repressive, authoritarian, and obscurantist, the very opposite of a true humanism that is literature's vocation. Readings include Voltaire and French existentialism. 2) The retrievalist posture. This posture is fundamentally nostalgic. The loss of Christianity's cultural authority is mourned, and literature is seen as an illegitimate substitute. Readings will include Dostoyevsky, T.S. Eliot, and Flannery O'Connor. 3) The parasitic posture. Here Christianity is criticized but not totally dismissed. Portions of it are savable, especially select elements of the New Testament that emphasize human being's creative capacities. Readings include Coleridge, Shelley, and Emerson.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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