The modernist God state : a literary study of the Nazis' Christian Reich / Michael Lackey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lackey, Michael, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and literature--History--20th century.

Church and state--Germany--History--1933-1945.

Fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

Literature--Aesthetics.

National socialism and religion.

Nation-state--History--20th century.

Politics and literature--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 p.)

Other Title:

Literary study of the Nazis' Christian Reich

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Continuum, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"The Modernist God State seeks to overturn the traditional secularization approach to intellectual and political history and to replace it with a fuller understanding of the religious basis of modernist political movements. Lackey demonstrates that Christianity, instead of fading after the Enlightenment, actually increased its power by becoming embedded within the concept of what was considered the legitimate nation state, thus determining the political agendas of prominent political leaders from King Leopold II to Hitler. Lackey first argues that novelists can represent intellectual and political history in a way that no other intellectual can. Specifically, they can picture a subconscious ideology, which often conflicts with consciously held systems of belief, short-circuiting straight into political action, an idea articulated by E.M. Forster. Second, in contrast to many literary scholars who discuss Hitler and the Nazis without studying and quoting their texts, Lackey draws his conclusions from close readings of their writings. In doing so, he shows that one cannot understand the Nazis without taking into account the specific version of Christianity underwriting their political agenda."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Part 1. Debunking the Secularization Hypothesis. Chapter 1. Short-circuiting aesthetics : a novel theory about the origins of Hitler and the Nazis ; Chapter 2. The secularization hypothesis : an exercise in political blindness

Part 2. The Theology of the Modernist God State. Chapter 3. "In-depth Christianization" : E. M. Forster and the modernist "religious sense" ; Chapter 4. Louise Erdrich, Alice Walker, and David Mamet on the supersessionist theology of the sacred imagined nation ; Chapter 5. Joseph Conrad and Michael Bakunin on the redemptive logic of Western genocide

Part 3. The Nazis' Christian Reich. Chapter 6. The making of Hitler and the Nazis : a tale of modern secularization or Christian idealism? ; Chapter 7. William Styron's Sophie's Choice : locating the Christian theology of the Nazi's genocidal anti-Semitism

The theological origins of Hitler and the Nazis: a question of method

Bibliography.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [339]-357) and index.

ISBN:

9786613606723

9781441155757

1441155759

9781472543257

1472543254

9781280577017

1280577010

9781441198730

1441198733

OCLC:

787843520