Description
Book SynopsisReligion and literature is the study of interrelationships between religious or theological traditions and literary traditions, both oral and written, with special attention to religious or theological underpinnings of, influences upon, and reflections in, individual “texts” (oral and written) or authors’ oeuvres. Religion and Literature: History and Method by Eric Ziolkowski considers the origins and history of, and methods employed in, that scholarly enterprise, focusing on the dual construals of “literature” in religious studies (as a body of sacred writings and as writing valued for artistic merit); the problematics of defining “religion”; the transformation of theology and literature as a “field” (pioneered by Nathan A. Scott Jr. et al.) to religion and literature; the affiliated fields of myth criticism, and of biblical reception; and the institutionalization, globalization, and future of the study of religion and literature.
Table of ContentsReligion and Literature: History and Method Eric Ziolkowski Abstract Keywords 1 Introduction 2 Homo Religiosus and Homo Litterarius 3 “Religion” 4 “Literature” 5 Scott as Locative Placer of Theology and Literature 6 Transformation of Theology and Literature to Religion and Literature, and Expanding Scope 7 Defining and Categorizing Religion “and” Literature 8 Origins and Development of the Approach 9 Religion, Myth, and Literature 10 Study of Biblical Reception 11 From Theology and Literature to Religion and Literature 12 Subversion of the Concepts of “Religion” and “Literature” 13 Institutionalization and Internationalization 14 Looking Futureward 15 Conclusion Acknowledgments Bibliography
