Religion in Cormac McCarthy's fiction : apocryphal borderlands / Manuel Broncano.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Broncano, Manuel, author.

Series:

Routledge studies in contemporary literature

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-2023--Criticism and interpretation.

McCarthy, Cormac.

McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-2023--Religion.

McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-2023.

Bible--In literature.

Bible.

Theology in literature.

Nihilism in literature.

Good and evil in literature.

Religion.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xv, 179 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2014.

Summary:

"This book addresses the religious scope of Cormac McCarthy's fiction, one of the most controversial issues in studies of his work. Current criticism is divided between those who find a theological dimension in his works, and those who reject such an approach on the grounds that the nihilist discourse characteristic of his narrative is incompatible with any religious message. McCarthy's tendencies toward religious themes have become increasingly more acute, revealing that McCarthy has adopted the biblical language and rhetoric to compose an "apocryphal" narrative of the American Southwest while exploring the human innate tendency to evil in the line of Herman Melville and William Faulkner, both literary progenitors of the writer. Broncano argues that this apocryphal narrative is written against the background of the Bible, a peculiar Pentateuch in which Blood Meridian functions as the Book of Genesis, the Border Trilogy functions as the Gospels, and No Country for Old Men as the Book of Revelation, while The Road is the post-apocalyptic sequel. This book analyzes the novels included in what Broncano defines as the South-Western cycle (from Blood Meridian to The Road) in search of the religious foundations that support the narrative architecture of the texts." -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Cormac McCarthy's Religious Enigma

The World as a Tale: Preliminary Considerations in Theory

Genesis of a Cursed Territory: Blood Meridian

Cicatrices and Wounds on the Skin of History: All the Pretty Horses

Of Knights and Wolves and Witnesses: The Crossing

The Virgin, the Whore, the Pimp, and the Monk: Cities of the Plain

The Devil?s Territory Revisited: No Country for Old Men

Grocery Shopping in the Commissary of Hell: The Road

Epilogue: The Tale of a World that Was.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415507325

0415507324

OCLC:

773023804