Theological and Philosophical Explorations of the Call of Literature

This book explores the ‘call’ of literature, for both writers and their audiences, and reflects on how literary works have informed and drawn from – and continue to inform and draw from – theology, philosophy and sacred scripture. Key questions addressed include the following: How do creative writers and critics conceive this call? What does it mean to speak of a ‘vocation’ to write and what have theologians and philosophers got to say on the matter? Is the spirit of literature always or necessarily an ‘angel of light’? Or is the call of literature a siren song? The essays by an international and interdisciplinary range of contributors discuss the work and testimony of writers from William Blake, Gerard Manley Hopkins and R.S. Thomas to James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and Michel Houellebecq. Also examined are the ideas and influence of figures such as John Henry Newman, who wrote that the importance of literature stems from our very nature and God-given powers as human beings, especially language. This latest volume from The Power of the Word Project will be of interest to scholars from theology, philosophy and literature.