Religion and literature

exegesis, hermeneutics, post-modern theories

Shira Wolosky

pp. 645-664

in: Barry Stocker, Michael Mack (eds), The Palgrave handbook of philosophy and literature, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

Literature and religion have often been neighboring rivals, each offering multiple dimensions of meaning to experience. Each also has been traditionally defined in terms of a governing unity. But post-metaphysical critique has challenged the overarching reference to unity in favor of a recognition and embrace of difference. Taking the history of American poetics, this chapter pursues the implications of the shift from traditional metaphysics of unity through post-metaphysical critiques towards redefining both aesthetic and religious meanings through difference and multiplicity.