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Literature and Religion

Session 4 - Saturday 3:00-4:30pm
Henry Hall 102
Presiding Officer: 
Cassandra Van Zandt
  1. Equiano's Providential Emancipation: The Interplay of Grace and Works in the Anthologized Portions of The Interesting Narrative. Liam Corley, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

    Equiano constructs his journey to physical emancipation so as to undercut narrative elements which privilege hard work and education as the keys to success. The emphasis on divine grace apart from human works indicates a stronger call for immediate and total abolition than commonly perceived.

  2. The Last Sin of a Sensitive Mind: Satan's Refusal of "Amae" and Its Aftermath in Paradise Lost, Book 4. Kensei Nishikawa, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies

    "Amae", or emotional attachment involving dependence, can be a useful concept in reading religious poetry. I will analyse Satan's monologue in Paradise Lost, Book 4, using this notion, to prove that his moral descent results paradoxically from his rejection of "amae".

  3. "Without God, Without Creed": The Paradox of Unbelief in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Haein Park, Biola University

    Both Crane and Hemingway reject a religious framework as they come to terms with human suffering. However, their texts betray the tension of relinquishing this particular framework. This tension ultimately reveals the limitations of a purely naturalistic understanding of human suffering.

  4. "But angels were watching": The City as Organ of (Divine?) Revelation in The Crying of Lot 49. Chris Davidson, Biola University

    This paper examines how the heroine of Pynchon’s novel experiences “a revelation … just past the threshold of … understanding,” which is occasioned by two phenomena—the (apparently) undirected organization of the city and the untamable language used to describe it.

Session Type: 
Special Session
Session Status: 
Closed