ST565
Johnston
ST565: THEOLOGY AND CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE:. Robert K. Johnston.
DESCRIPTION:
- This course will explore (1) contemporary attitudes toward religion
found in selected American novels and (2) the means of theological dialogue
with them. Books by such authors as Robert Coover, Barbara Kingsolver, Chaim
Potok, Bernard Malamud, John Updike, Flannery O'Conner, C. S. Lewis
(almost an American!), Ken Kesey, and Peter DeVries will be read. While
debunking or listening, symbolizing or secularizing, arguing or affirming,
current American fiction is often found interacting with the religious currents
that pervade our culture. As such, it invites dialogue from a theological
perspective.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
- Preparation for ministry too often assumes students possess skills
in cultural analysis and interaction. This course helps students read their
"culture" by having them read in their culture. In the process it provides
tools and insight necessary (though not sufficient) for engaged, effective
ministry.
COURSE FORMAT:
- Discussion and lecture. One novel will be read and discussed each
week. Because the enrollment will be limited to forty, students will have the
opportunity for active participation in the discussion. Class will meet once a
week for a three hour session.
REQUIRED READING:
- Coover, Robert. The Universal Baseball Association, J. Henry
Waugh, Prop. NAL-Dutton, 1983.
- DeVries, Peter. Blood of the Lamb. Penguin Books, 1982. (out of
print)
- Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Penguin Books, 1996.
- Kingsolver, Barbara. Animal Dreams. G. K. Hall & Co. 1991.
- Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. HarperCollins
Publishers, 1997.
- Malamud, Bernard. The Assistant. Avon, 1993.
- O'Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. Rutgers University
Press, 1993.
- Potok, Chaim. My Name is Asher Lev. Fawcett Columbine, 1996.
- Updike, John. The Centaur. Fawcett, 1987.
- Selected critical essays.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- Class presentation on a selected novel.
- Three to five page critique of Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to
Find.
- Eight to ten page paper on a novel by Barbara Kingsolver or Bernard
Malamud.
PREREQUISITES:
- None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:
- Elective.
FINAL EXAMINATION:
- None.