Partial faiths : postsecular fiction in the age of Pynchon and Morrison / John A. McClure.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McClure, John A., 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American fiction--20th century--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

American fiction.

Religion and literature--United States--History--20th century.

Religion and literature.

American fiction--21st century--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Religion and literature--United States--History--21st century.

Secularism in literature.

Religion in literature.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 209 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Athens, Ga. : University of Georgia Press, [2007]

Summary:

Spiritual conversions figure heavily in such novels as Thomas Pynchon's Vineland, Toni Morrison's Paradise, and Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine. What connects such varied works is that the characters in them who are converts are disenchanted with secularism yet apprehensive of dogmatic religiosity. Partial Faiths is the first study to identify a body of contemporary fiction in such terms, take the measure of its structures and strategies, and evaluate its contribution to public discourse on religion's place in postmodern life.

Contents:

Introduction: Postsecular projects

Ontological pluralism and preterite spiritualities : Thomas Pynchon

Worldly vocations : Don Delillo

Enclosures, enchantments, and the art of discernment : Toni Morrison

Narratives of turning in Native American fiction : N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Louise Erdrich

Neomonastic paths and the limits of postsecularism : Michael Ondaatje

Epilogue: The dream of open dwelling.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-204) and index.

ISBN:

9780820330327

0820330329

9780820330334

0820330337

OCLC:

132581938