Partial Faiths: Postsecular Fiction in the Age of Pynchon and Morrison

224 Pages·2007·1.117 MB·English

by  John A. McClure

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Postsecular Fiction in the
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26 Age of Pynchon and Morrison
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30 John A. McClure
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37 TheUniversityofGeorgiaPress Athens&London
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7 ©2007bytheUniversityofGeorgiaPress
8 Athens,Georgia30602
9 Allrightsreserved
10 Setin11/14AdobeGaramondbyBookComp
11 PrintedandboundbyThomson-Shore
12 Thepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelinesfor [-4],
13 permanenceanddurabilityoftheCommitteeon
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20 McClure,JohnA.,1945–
21 Partialfaiths:postsecularfictionintheageofPynchonandMorrison/JohnA.
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22 McClure.
23 p.cm.
24 Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
25 isbn-13:978-0-8203-3032-7(hardcover:alk.paper)
26 isbn-10:0-8203-3032-9(hardcover:alk.paper)
27 isbn-13:978-0-8203-3033-4(softcover:alk.paper)
28 isbn-10:0-8203-3033-7(softcover:alk.paper)
29 1.Americanfiction—20thcentury—Historyandcriticism—Theory,etc.
30 2.Religionandliterature—UnitedStates—History—20thcentury.
31 3.Americanfiction—21stcentury—Historyandcriticism—Theory,etc.
32 4.Religionandliterature—UnitedStates—History—21stcentury.
33 5.Secularisminliterature. 6.Religioninliterature. I.Title.
34 ps374.r47.m332007
35 813'.54—dc22 2007018947
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37 BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataavailable
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7 contents
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10 Preface ix
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Introduction.PostsecularProjects 1
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13 1. OntologicalPluralismandPreteriteSpiritualities:
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ThomasPynchon 26
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2. WorldlyVocations:DonDeLillo 63 ——
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3. Enclosures,Enchantments,andtheArtof ——
18 Discernment:ToniMorrison 100 Norm
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20 4. NarrativesofTurninginNativeAmericanFiction:N.Scott
21 Momaday,LeslieMarmonSilko,andLouiseErdrich 131
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5. NeomonasticPathsandtheLimitsofPostsecularism:
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MichaelOndaatje 162
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25 Epilogue.TheDreamofOpenDwelling 192
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WorksCited 197
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28 Index 205
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7 preface
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10 Partial Faiths has three main goals: to survey the contemporary
11 popularandphilosophicalmovementthatissometimescalledpostsecular-
12 ism;toshowthatasurprisingnumberofeminentcontemporarynovelists [-9],
13 areengagedinthismovement;andtooffer,bysodoing,anewwayofcon-
14 figuringtheterrainofcontemporaryfiction.Postsecularism,amodeofbe-
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15 ingandseeingthatisatoncecriticalofsecularconstructionsofrealityand
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16 of dogmatic religiosity, is being studied and theorized in North America
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17 bythinkerssuchasHaroldBloom,WilliamConnolly,RichardRorty,and
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18 CharlesTaylor.InEuropetheprojectofinventingandunderstandingpost- Norm
19 secularismisidentifiedwithphilosopherssuchasJacquesDerrida,Jürgen * PgEn
20 Habermas,PierreHadot,andGianniVattimo.ButnovelistssuchasDon
21 DeLillo,LouiseErdrich,ToniMorrison,MichaelOndaatje,ThomasPyn-
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22 chon, and Leslie Marmon Silko are also vigorously exploring postsecular-
23 ismandpostsecularistmodesofbeing.Thesenovelists,whomcriticsoften
24 relegatetoseparatedomainswithincontemporaryfiction,areallthinking
25 in the narrative mode about postsecular movements and possibilities that
26 the theorists and sociologists treat more abstractly. All of them tell stories
27 aboutnewformsofreligiouslyinflectedseeingandbeing.Andineachcase,
28 the forms of faith they invent, study, and affirm are dramatically partial
29 and open-ended.They do not provide, or even aspire to provide, any full
30 “mapping”ofthereenchantedcosmos.Theydonotpromiseanythinglike
31 fullredemption.Andtheyarepartialinanothersenseaswellinthatthey
32 are selectively dedicated to progressive ideals of social transformation and
33 well-being. In all these respects, of course, postsecularism is at odds with
34 resurgentfundamentalisms.
35 Rutgers University has been a splendid place to study postsecularism.
36 Fromthefirst,asIturnedmyattentiontothereligiousdimensionsofcon-
37 temporaryliteratureandculture,Iwaspatientlychallengedandsupported
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