Deadline for abstracts: April 15, 2006

Religion and Literature panel: The Half-life of Religious Thinking

Literary engagements with religious ideas consistently reveal a conflict
between the literary imagination and religious orthodoxy. This conflict
often occurs when texts try to accommodate theological absolutes to human
experience. Moments when psychosocial pressures make such accommodations
necessary usually mark stages in the half-life of religious thinking -
points at which religious ideas must undergo shifts and readjustments to
remain relevant. This panel seeks readings of texts that revise, reshape,
update, or adapt religious orthodoxy and/or religious texts in an effort to
make some aspect of religion (more) responsive to human needs. Papers are
especially welcome that examine textual reimaginations (literary or
cultural) of the sacred in secular forms (e.g. film or the novel) or in a
non-sacred idiom (e.g. Transcendentalism or science fiction).

Please send 200-word abstract within the body of an email to Douglas
Harrison (dharrison_at_wustl.edu) by April 15, 2006. Information about the
M/MLA meeting, to be held November 9-12 in Chicago, can be found at:
www.uiowa.edu/~mmla/

Douglas Harrison
Washington University in St. Louis
English CB 1122
1 Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130

         ==========================================================
              From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
                        CFP_at_english.upenn.edu
                         Full Information at
                     http://cfp.english.upenn.edu
         or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu
         ==========================================================
Received on Thu Mar 02 2006 - 11:45:07 EST