Flannery O'Connor and Martin Heidegger: Scientism and Sin in "The Violent Bear It Away"
This article explores parallels between Flannery O 'Connor's work in The Violent Bear It Away and the work of German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Parallels between O 'Connor's work and Heidegger's are well acknowledged, yet the specific themes of O 'Connor's secon...
| Published in: | Religion & literature |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Notre Dame
[2018]
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| In: |
Religion & literature
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
O'Connor, Flannery 1925-1964, The violent bear it away
/ Heidegger, Martin 1889-1976
/ Scientism
/ Secret
/ Miracle
/ Loss
/ Buber, Martin 1878-1965
/ Prophecy
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism CD Christianity and Culture CF Christianity and Science KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KDB Roman Catholic Church VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
O'Connor, Flannery, 1925-1964
B VIOLENT Bear It Away, The (Book : O'Connor) B PROPHECY; Christianity B theory of knowledge B Catholic literature B History & criticism |
| Summary: | This article explores parallels between Flannery O 'Connor's work in The Violent Bear It Away and the work of German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Parallels between O 'Connor's work and Heidegger's are well acknowledged, yet the specific themes of O 'Connor's second novel call for more detailed comparison. Apart from any attempt to establish influence, this article explores the second novel's work with themes of scientism as a barrier to redemption, comparing and contrasting these themes with Heidegger's similar interests. This article begins with a summary of Heidegger's concerns about scientism, and the implications of the loss of mystery and wonder in the technocratic age, and then turns to O 'Connor's characterization of Rayber as a character who illustrates the pathological and eschatological limitations of a life given over to a narrow scientist world-view. In order to better understand how O 'Connor works with the themes of prophecy and revelation in her fiction, this article also brings in Martin Buber and his formulation of the problem of prophecy in the technocratic age. This context of Heidegger's and Buber's thought helps us better understand the complexity of O 'Connor's literary treatment of Rayber's atheist resistance to prophecy and his determination to make a skeptic out of Francis Marion Tarwater. This context also helps us to understand O 'Connor's second novel's unique situation as a great work of American Catholic literature of the atomic age. |
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| ISSN: | 2328-6911 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & literature
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