The Absence of God in Modernist Literature

ISBN-13: 9781403977588 / Angielski / Twarda / 2007 / 236 str.

Gregory Erickson

Opis

This book combines literary criticism, postmodern theology, philosophy, and musicology in a rethinking of the relationship of modernist literature and religion. Erickson argues that theological modes of thinking are ingrained in the very roots of our metaphysical assumptions, and are impossible to escape, even and especially in the skeptical and experimental woks of modernism. By concentrating on moments of difficulty and ambiguity in works such as Henry James's The Golden Bowl, Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time, and Arnold Schoenberg's opera Moses und Aron, the book identifies the paradoxical construction of a god-idea buried in the tropes and metaphors of each text.

Recenzje

'The quite amazing stretch of this beautifully written book reaches out effortlessly to the far shores of negative theology and its attendant philosophies. Hegel, Levinas, Derrida, and Kristeva mingle with Proust, Joyce, and HenryJames,until we plunge into Schoenberg and the complexities of Moses und Aron. Erickson knows his philosophical, literary, andmusical stuff - and is neverdull about any of it.' - Mary Ann Caws, DistinguishedProfessor of English, French, and Comparative Literature,The Graduate Center, The City University of New York; Author of Glorious Eccentrics: Modernist Women Painting and Writing (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)

'This book is very impressive in many respects, offering a comprehensive overview of postmodern theology, detailed discussions of the modern novelby authors such as Henry James and Marcel Proust, and twentieth-century music, focusing onthe work of Arnold Schoenberg. Each chapter is well informed, and demonstrates mastery of available criticism.' - William D. Melaney, Chair, Dept. of English and Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo

'Erickson makes deep and broad connections between the high modernists (most fully late James, Proust, Arnold Schoenberg) and postmodern theological speculation according to which disjunction and rupture are inherent in their veryquest for an ultimate coherence and unity. His book is ambitious, very wellwritten, and brilliant from start to finish.' - David Gordon, Emeritus Professor of English, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

Spis treści

Literature After the Death of God Reading God/God Writing: The Irrational and Difficult Name The Golden Bowl, Atheology, and Nothing À La Recherche and Proust's Unstable Metaphors of Divinity Proust's Theology of Musical Aesthetics Godless Silences: Modernist Poetry, Musical Atonality, and the Challenge of Coherence Schoenberg's Impossible God: Moses und Aron The Other Side of God: Reading in the Dark

O autorze

GREGORY ERICKSON teaches world literature and writing at Mannes College and New York University, USA.