ENH2340

Literature and the Christian tradition

P Ayres

8 points - 2.5 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives On successfully completing this subject, students should have gained a thorough understanding of how theology and literature intersect in the authors studied, and of how a shared but contested concept of the sacred order shapes English literature across the centuries.

Synopsis This subject explores a diverse range of major English literature, both poetry and fiction, over four centuries, all of it reflecting the dominant religious impulse of the West. The chosen texts embody a breadth of religious experience from Catholic (Crashaw, Hopkins, Flannery O'Connor) through Anglican (Donne, Herbert) to the Calvinist and Arminian strands of Puritanism (Bunyan, Milton). Attention will be given to the ways in which several of the selected texts turn upon issues of intense theological controversy, locating themselves within the field of a dynamic, contested tradition. The subject is concerned with cultural centrality: of how a shared concept of the sacred, albeit variously defined in its details and variously experienced, shapes English literature across the centuries.

Assessment Seminar paper (1500 words) and participation: 20% - First essay (2000 words): 30% - Second essay (2500 words): 50%

Prescribed texts

Donne J selected poetry in The metaphysical poets ed. H Gardner, Penguin
Herbert G selected poetry in The metaphysical poets ed. H Gardner, Penguin
Crashaw R selected poetry in The metaphysical poets ed. H Gardner, Penguin
Milton J Paradise Lost Reinhart
Bunyan J Pilgrim's progress Penguin
Hopkins G M Poems and prose Penguin
O'Connor F Complete short stories Penguin
Golding W The spire Penguin

Recommended texts

Students should be familiar with the Gospels according to Mark and John, the Pauline Epistles to the Romans and the Corinthians, and Revelation.

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