Postmodernism, Literature and the Future of Theology PDF
Preview Postmodernism, Literature and the Future of Theology
POS1MODERNISM, LITERATURE AND THE FUTURE OF THEOLOGY From the same publishers David Scott Arnold LIMINAL READINGS Forms of Otherness in Melville, Joyce and Murdoch John D. Barbour THE CONSCIENCE OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHER Ethical and Religious Dimensions of Autobiography Tibor Fabiny THE LION AND THE LAMB Figuralism and Fulfilment in the Bible, Art and Literature Max Harris THEATRE AND INCARNATION David Jasper (editor) TRANSLATING RELIGIOUS TEXTS Translation, Transgression and Interpretation Ann Loades and Michael McLain (editors) HERMENEUTICS, THE BffiLE AND LITERARY CRITICISM LindaMunk THE TRIVIAL SUBLIME George Pattison KIERKEGAARD: THE AESTHETIC AND THE RELIGIOUS Postm.odernism., Literature and the Future of Theology Edited by David Jasper Director Centre for the Study of Literature and Theology University of Glasguw © The Macmillan Press Ltd 1993 Editorial matter and selection© David Jasper 1993 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1993 978-0-333-57062-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published in Great Britain 1993 by 1HE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world This book is published in Macmillan's Studies in Literature and Religion series General Editor: David Jasper A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-22689-4 ISBN 978-1-349-22687-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22687-0 Ipswich Book Co Ltd, Ipswich, Suffolk First published in the United States of America 1993 by Scholarly and Reference Division, ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 175 Fifth Avenue, NewYork,N.Y.10010 ISBN 978-0-312-08669-5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Postmodernism, literature and the future of theology I [edited by David Jasper]. P· em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-08669-5 1. Postmodernism (Literature) 2. Christianity and literature. 3. Christianity in literature. 4. Theology-20th century. I. Jasper, David. PN98.P67P693 1993 261.5'8--dc20 92-24843 CIP Contents Preface vii Notes on the Contributors ix 1 Introduction: Religious Thought and Contemporary Critical Theory 1 David Jasper 2 Two Ways to Avoid Tragedy 7 David E. Klemm 3 Tragedy is - Scription Contra-diction 21 Brayton Polka 4 Torn by Desire: Sparagmos in Greek Tragedy and Recent Fiction 60 Robert Detweiler 5 An Apocalypse of Race and Gender: Body Violence and Forming Identity in Toni Morrison's Beloved 78 T. Mark Ledbetter 6 The Postmodernity of Judas: Religious Narrative and the Deconstruction of lime 91 Stephen Happel 7 Nietzsche's Theology of History and the Redemption of Postmodernism 120 Bernard Zelechow 8 Theology in the Context of Pluralism and Postmodernity: David Tracy's Theological Method 143 Werner G. Jeanrond 9 The End of the Story? 164 Dag T. Andersson vi Contents 10 Back to Literature-and Theology? 180 David E. Klemm Index 191 Preface This collection of essays originated in a two-day consultation which took place at the University of Durham in the autumn of 1990. We were a small but disparate group - of theologians, literary critics, philosophers and historians. The task which we set ourselves was to consider the possible future of theological reflection in the light of the so-called postmodern condition. We decided that we would take as our starting point the twelve lectures of Jiirgen Habermas published as The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity (Frankfurt, 1985), which is a study of contemporary thought in the wake of the exhaustion of the European Enlightenment. Habermas was simply a pre-text, and our discussions ranged widely and often heatedly. As the essays have emerged it will quickly be evident that, despite their common interest and themes, approaches to the ques tions of postmodernity are widely divergent. Some of these essays are deeply philosophical and make great demands on the reader. Others are firmly within the field of theological study and reflec tion. Yet others are literary and deal with specific texts in great detail. Often the links between them are implicit rather than explicit. But the great themes of tragedy, apocalypse, history, vio lence, recur in different ways and within different arguments throughout the book. Theology, as David Tracy perceives, only has a future inasmuch as it recognises the pluralistic context of thought and reflection. The diversity of these papers does not deny their common purpose and anxiety. By no means are all their authors in agreement. To take postmodernism seriously does not require one to be in accord with thinkers like Jacques Derrida or Paul de Man. An underlying theme is the political dimension of our situation - an element clearly identified by David Klemm in the final chapter. The recognition of this adds a further note of nervousness to the discussion. Our concern, therefore, is not with a so-called 'postmodern theol ogy'. Rather, we set out to examine the conditions for theological activity within our present literary and cultural situation, offering one or two substantial pointers for those concerned for its future. viii Preface The discussion still has far to go, but at least, we hope, a start has been made. DAVID }ASPER University of Glasgow Notes on the Contributors Dag T. Andersson teaches in the Department of Philosophy of the University of Tromse, Norway. Robert Detweiler teaches in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Stephen Happel teaches in the School of Religious Studies of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. David Jasper teaches in the Departments of English and of Divinity in the University of Glasgow. Werner G. Jeanrond teaches in the School of Hebrew, Biblical and Theological Studies of Trinity College, Dublin. David E. Klemm teaches in the Department of Religion of the University of Iowa, Iowa City. T. Mark Ledbetter teaches at Huntington College, Montgomery, Alabama. Brayton Polka teaches in the Division of Humanities and the Department of History, York University, Toronto. Bernard Zelechow teaches in the Division of Humanities and the Department of History, York University, Toronto.
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