Through the dark field : the incarnation through an aesthetics of vulnerability / Susan Paulik Babka.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Babka, Susie Paulik, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and art.

Art--Philosophy.

Art.

Aesthetics.

Incarnation.

Suffering--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Suffering.

Physical Description:

xvii, 319 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Collegeville, Minnesota : Liturgical Press, [2017]

Summary:

Theological discourse in the West has consistently valued the word over the image. Aesthetics, which discerns the criteria and value of the beautiful and what "pleases the senses," is the discipline that prioritizes sensual intelligence over the rational; this book advocates a reconsideration of the doctrine of the incarnation through an aesthetics of vulnerability, in which the ethical optics of attention to the vulnerable other becomes the standpoint in which to ponder the significance of "God became human." Relying on such diverse thinkers as Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Blanchot, Karl Rahner, and Masao Abe, this book explores visual art, images, and poetry as theological sources, designating what Blanchot called "a region where impossibility is no longer deprivation, but affirmation." Book jacket.

Contents:

Theology, vulnerability, and art as the consciousness of grief

Christology positive and im-positive

Dedication to vulnerability in the form of art

Visual art as a resource for theology of the incarnation

Beyond language, beyond reason: vulnerability, art, and the problem of catastrophic suffering

The presence of the absent God: incarnation and abstract expressionism.

Notes:

"A Michael Glazier book."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Babka, Susie Paulik, author. Through the dark field

ISBN:

9780814680735

0814680739

OCLC:

927382838