Religious Feeling and Religious Commitment in Faulkner, Dostoyevsky, Werfel and Bernanos

306 Pages·2016·6.164 MB·English

by  Jeremy Smith

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www.routledge.com(cid:1)aninformabusiness
ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY NOVEL
Volume 36
RELIGIOUS FEELING AND
RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT IN
FAULKNER, DOSTOYEVSKY,
WERFEL AND BERNANOS
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RELIGIOUS FEELING AND
RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT IN
FAULKNER, DOSTOYEVSKY,
WERFEL AND BERNANOS
JEREMY SMITH
Firstpublishedin1988byGarlandPublishingInc.
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2016
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
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©1988JeremySmith
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilised
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AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN:978-1-138-67777-7(Set)
ISBN:978-1-315-55928-5(Set)(ebk)
ISBN:978-1-138-67005-1(Volume36)(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-138-67007-5(Volume36)(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-61781-7(Volume36)(ebk)
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Thepublisherhasmadeeveryefforttotracecopyrightholdersandwouldwelcome
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JEREMY SMITH
RELIGIOUS FEELING AND
RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT
IN FAULKNER,
DOSTOYEVSKY,
WERFEL AND BERNANOS
GARLAND PUBLISHING, INC.
NEW YORK & LONDON
1988
© 1988 by Jeremy Smith
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Jeremy, 1954-
Religious feeling and religious commitment in Faulkner,
Dostoyevsky, Werfel, and Bemanos.
(Garland publications in complJC!ltive literature)
Bibliography: p.
1. Religion in literature. 2. Faulkner, William, 1897-1962-
Religion. 3. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881-Religion. 4.
Werfel, Franz, 1890-1945-Religion. 5. Bemanos, Georges,
1888-1948-Religion. I. Title. II Series.
PN49.S56 1988 809'.93382 88-21223
ISBN 0-8240-7495-5
The volumes in this series are printed on
acid-free, 250-year-life paper.
Printed in the United States of America
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I would like to thank my parents, who are important in a
way that is beyond the power of words to express. My chairman, Merritt
Lawlis, has merely been the best of chairmen. I would like to thank him,
as well as James Hart, James Justus, Breon Mitchell, and David Smith, for
their astute intellectual guidance, their critical attention, and their
fairness. I would finally like to express my gratitude to the late Newton
Stallknecht, whose philosophical spirit remains an inspiration and a reason
for hope.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction •••••••••••••••••• 1
PART ONE
I. Fmpathy and Characterization in
Light in August • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 21
II. Light in August and
the Question of Universality • • • • • • • • • 53
III. Light in August and
the Mystery of the Human Condition • • • • • • 85
PART TWO
IV. From Faulkner to Dostoyevsky: Two Kinds
of Religious Experience in the Novel 119
v. Characterization and the Experience
of Conviction in The Idiot • • • • • 133
VI. Religious Unease and
The Structure of The Idiot 164
PART THREE
VII. Evocation of Feeling and Avowal of Commitment
as Artistic Aims: From Faulkner and
Dostoyevsky to Werfel and Bernanos • • • • 205
VIII. Confusion of Aim and the Lack of Fictional Form
in Werfel's Embezzled Heaven • • • • • • • 222
IX. The Conflict between Rhetorical
Aim and Fictional Foilll in Bernanos'
The Diary of .! Country Priest • • • • • • • • • 245
Conclusion • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 283
Works Cited •••••••••••••••••• 286