Literature and Theology - current issue

Exegesis of the End: Limitations of Lollard Apocalypticism as Revealed in a Commentary on Matthew 24

Lewis, A. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:37 PST

Lollard writing is characterised by a preoccupation with the end times, but the kind of eschatological mindset the texts reflect has become a matter of some debate. This article seeks to shed some light on this issue through an analysis of the text Of Mynystris in the Chirche, a commentary on Matthew 24 and one of the longest Lollard discussions of the Bible's eschatological prophecies. Specifically, this article points to a correspondence between a tension at the heart of Lollard attitudes to the theory and practice of scriptural exegesis and a tension at the heart of Lollard perspectives on end times events. It therefore demonstrates how this text reveals the way in which Lollard hermeneutics helped to determine the limits of Lollard apocalypticism.

Macbeth's Banquo: Faux Ami as Christian Friend

Fendt, G. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:37 PST

One sign of Banquo's nature and authorial intent regarding Macbeth is what we might call Banquo's grammar. In grammar, a faux ami is a word in a foreign language that looks like a word in one's own, but means something quite different. Banquo is the ghost of such a word. In Latin, he would be declined banquo, banques, banquet; but the word does not exist in Latin. So ‘Banquo’ is the ghost of a faux ami; his being and ghost a double edged grammatical pun. His appearance and action at Macbeth's banquets (where Macbeth performs ‘non banquo’) exhibit that he is, moreover, the truest friend.

Holderlin's Atheisms

Whistler, D. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:37 PST

This essay initiates an interrogation of Friedrich Hölderlin’s ‘last’ (post-1806) poetry from the point of view of his pre-1806 works. It argues that, while the theological underpinnings of this earlier writing are systematically rejected in Hölderlin’s ‘last’ writings, this does not necessarily mean that there is no connection whatsoever between the two. On the contrary, I give three readings of the ‘last’ poetry which attempt progressively to pinpoint its theological significance.

The Genesis of Eden: Scriptural (Re) Translations and the (Un) Making of an Academic Eden in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

May, C. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:37 PST

In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison's central protagonist likens the Southern historically black college he attends to Eden. Such a comparison launches my discussion of how Ellison's academic Eden departs from, corresponds with and/or (re)envisions its scriptural counterpart. All in all, Invisible Man provides a platform from which to question whether a version of Eden within the realm of higher education can offer an escape from racism or avoid racialised ideologies. How appropriating this region in its primeval, pre and post ‘Fall’ state is tied to utopianesque depictions of American democracy drives Ellison's tussle with the (re)imagination of America as a raceless Eden even as race dominates its history and economic/political profile. To this end, Ellison's (un)making of Eden critiques those who align this biblical place with historical accounts that describe the origins of America as a nation birthed from a pristine history. As far as Ellison is concerned, the allure of America as an Eden-like promised land is dependent on the notion that its historical evolution is unaffected by racism and uninformed by race. Taking issue with this position, Ellison dissects the fallacy of this viewpoint in his writings. Altogether, this essay engages Ellison's penchant for wrestling with complex and seemingly un-resolvable concepts in his works. Probing the alluring yet somewhat perplexing paradoxes underlying Eden shapes this analysis of Invisible Man.

God's Invisible Traces: The Sacred in Fallen Language, Translation and Literariness

Loevlie, E. M. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

The story of the Fall inscribes the myth of a fallen language as the absolute other of the original sacred. Hence the dualistic scheme between a fallen materiality and a metaphysical God. This article explores how the death of this God is not merely a secular turn, but the opening of a different, anti-theological, or fallen religiosity that allows us to trace the sacred in unexpected places—also within fallen language. Translation and literature will be explored as instances where language performs its own fallenness—its materiality, arbitrariness and difference—and thereby releases a sacred expression. The essay considers 17th-century theologian Martin de Barcos’ letters regarding translation, Derrida's essay ‘Des Tours de Babel’ and notions of literariness based on Blanchot and Mallarmé.

Sacramental Poetics at the Dawn of Secularism: When God Left the World. By Regina Mara Schwartz.

Smith, M. J. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Dissent Over Descent: Intelligent Design's Challenge to Darwinism. By Steve Fuller.

McCall, B. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Theological Aesthetics After Von Balthasar. Edited by Oleg V. Bychkov and James Fodor.

Taylor, T. K. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Conversations with American Writers: The Doubt, the Faith, the In-Between. By Dale Brown.

Hamner, E. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Melville's Bibles. By Ilana Pardes.

Johnson, B. A. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Milton's Vision: The Birth of Christian Liberty. By Theo Hobson. The Development of Milton's Thought: Law, Government, and Religion. By John T. Shawcross.

Crome, A. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

The New Testament as Literature: Very Short Introduction. By Kyle Keefer.

Jasper, D. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Chesterton and the Romance of Orthodoxy. The Making of GKC 1874-1908. By William Oddie.

Murdoch, B. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Reading Everyman. By Leo Carruthers.

Murdoch, B. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Frauenlob's Song of Songs: A Medieval Poet and His Masterpiece. By Barbara Newman.

Pfeiffer, K. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

William Blake's Poetry. By Jonathan Roberts.

Burdon, C. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST

Notices and Reports

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:09:38 PST