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Leonard Cohen's troubled relationship with God is here mapped onto his troubled relationships with sex and politics. Analysing Covenantal theology and its place in Cohen's work, this book is the first to trace a consistent theology across sixty years of Cohen's writing, drawing on his Jewish heritage and its expression in his lyrics and poems.
Cohen's commitment to covenant, and his anger at this God who made us so prone to failing it, undergird the faith, frustration, and sardonic taunting of Cohen's work. Both his faith and ire are traced through:
· Cohen's unorthodox use of Jewish and Christian imagery
· His writings about women, politics, and the Holocaust
· His final theology,
You Want It Darker, released three weeks before his death.
List of contents
Introduction and Biographical Sketch
Chapter One: Theodicy: Arguments With God about Evil, Suffering, and God Himself
Chapter Two: Covenantal Theology and its Place in Cohen's Work
Chapter Three: From Covenantal Theology to Theodicy: Failing Covenant with God and Persons
Chapter Four: Failing Covenant with God and Persons: Doubled Imagery in Cohen's Work
Chapter Five: Those who did not fail covenant: Moses and Jesus-Cohen's Jewish and Christian Imagery
Chapter Six: The Double Bind That Is Not a Bond: Cohen and Women
Chapter Seven: Betrayal of God, Betrayal of Persons, Political Betrayals-Cohen's Trinity
Concluding Remarks:
You Want It Darker and
Thanks for the Dance-Cohen's Last Creed
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Marcia Pally is Professor in Multilingual Multicultural Studies at New York University, USA and held the Mercator Guest Professorship in the Theology Faculty at Humboldt University-Berlin (Germany), where she is now a regular Guest Professor.
Summary
Leonard Cohen’s troubled relationship with God is here mapped onto his troubled relationships with sex and politics. Analysing Covenantal theology and its place in Cohen’s work, this book is the first to trace a consistent theology across sixty years of Cohen’s writing, drawing on his Jewish heritage and its expression in his lyrics and poems.
Cohen’s commitment to covenant, and his anger at this God who made us so prone to failing it, undergird the faith, frustration, and sardonic taunting of Cohen’s work. Both his faith and ire are traced through:
· Cohen’s unorthodox use of Jewish and Christian imagery
· His writings about women, politics, and the Holocaust
· His final theology, You Want It Darker, released three weeks before his death.
Foreword
This book is the first to trace a consistent theology across sixty years of Cohen’s writing, drawing on his Jewish heritage and how it is expressed in his unusual use of Jewish and Christian imagery and in his writings about women, politics, and the Holocaust.
Additional text
I have always loved Leonard's work, and loved him personally, and knew that HE was the man along with Beatles, whose work would survive musically. Marcia Pally’s masterful book reveals that as a poet, songwriter, philosopher and ultimate mensch, Leonard Cohen, his work and his spirit are here for ALL TIME!!
