Finding the Prophetic in Failure

In recent decades, a body of literary writing has emerged in which religious questions are foregrounded. This body of writing and the criticism connected with it is increasingly referred to as postsecular. In E. L. Doctorow’s City of God, the characters and the text perform the struggle of reading p...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion and the arts
Main Author: Ludwig, Kathryn (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Brill 2015
In: Religion and the arts
Further subjects:B E. L. Doctorow Martin Buber Midrash fiction religion secular postsecular prophetic reading
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:In recent decades, a body of literary writing has emerged in which religious questions are foregrounded. This body of writing and the criticism connected with it is increasingly referred to as postsecular. In E. L. Doctorow’s City of God, the characters and the text perform the struggle of reading prophetically, as it is defined in the writings of Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. In his time, Buber urged not a return to existing models of the religious, but a turn toward prophetic reading, which is founded in relation. Literary writing of this postsecular moment, including City of God, is likewise engaged in a reconceptualization of the religious. Doctorow’s novel conveys the idea that engaging the religious involves failure, but that it is through failure that we are pushed to a new modality of reading.
ISSN:1568-5292
Contains:In: Religion and the arts
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685292-01903003