Intersections in Christianity and Critical Theory

206 Pages·2010·1.185 MB·English

by  Cassandra Falke (eds.)

Intersections in Christianity and Critical Theory
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Intersections in Christianity
and Critical Theory
Edited by
Cassandra Falke
Selection and editorial matter © Cassandra Falke 2010
Individual chapters © contributors 2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-23480-2
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
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Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
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ISBN 978-1-349-31360-0 ISBN 978-0-230-29468-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230294684
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
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country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Intersections in Christianity and critical theory / edited by
Cassandra Falke.
p. cm.
1. Christianity and the social sciences. 2. Critical theory. 3. Religion
and sociology. I. Falke, Cassandra, 1977–
BR115.S57158 2010
261.5—dc22 2010027501
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
For my family
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Notes on Contributors x
Introduction 1
Cassandra Falke
Part I Theory
1 Reading Theologically: Reduction and Reductio 11
Kevin Hart
2 After Theory, After Modernity: Reading Humbly 23
Jessica Hooten
3 An Ache in the Missing Limb: Biblical Origins of
English Literary Criticism 33
Stephen Prickett
4 Good Reading: The Ethics of Christian Literary Theory 46
Cassandra Falke
5 Sites of Resistance: Christ and Materiality after
the New Historicism 57
Mitchell M. Harris
6 Post-Secular Queer: Christianity, Queer Theory,
and the Unsolvable Mysteries of Sexual Desire 70
Norman W. Jones
Part II Applications
7 Dil Ulenspiegel: The Inverted Gospel and an Early
Modern Clown 89
Thomas Lederer
8 Take and Eat: Eve, Mary, and Feminist Christianity 106
Martha Kalnin Diede
9 Humans, Animals, and Others 120
Philip Sampson
10 Theologizing Horror: Spirituality and the Gothic 135
Andrew Ng
vii
viii Contents
11 The Secular Dream of a Christian Utopia:
American Studies and Political Theology 148
Is¸ıl Özcan
12 Heaven Came Down: Deconstruction, Christianity,
and George Herbert’s ‘The Collar’ 162
Michael Mattek
Bibliography 175
Index 194
Acknowledgements
I am grateful for the inspiration and assistance I have received as this
book grew from an idea into a draft and finally into the finished manu-
script. I gathered ideas from the Cultural Studies Now conference hosted
by the University of East London and the Conference on Christianity and
Literature sessions at the 2007 MLA conference. These ideas were refined
through conversations with my students, my department, and my hus-
band, and I wish to thank them, Damon especially, for being patient
with me if I steered too many conversations back to the topics of this
book. Colleagues Michael Vander Weele and Lloyd Davies also assisted
and encouraged me with their conversations. Working with contribut-
ing authors has been a pleasure and an education. I’m thankful for their
enthusiasm for this project and for the friends that they have become
over the past two years. Finally, I wish to thank the editorial staff and
outside reader for Palgrave for their discernment and professionalism and
for the spirit of charity that they have consistently demonstrated.
ix