Impossible to Say - Representing Religious Mystery in Fiction by Malamud, Percy, Ozick, and O'Connor

Although Judaism and Catholicism have important differences, both religions contain elements of religious mystery, aspects of belief that transcend the rational. Each religion additionally provides believers a concrete method for encountering the numinous: following the commandments in Judaism or partaking of the sacraments in Catholicism. This book studies how Jewish and Catholic practices of giving structure to religious mystery are embodied in the works of Bernard Malamud, Walker Percy, Cynthia Ozick, and Flannery O'Connor.

The volume links Malamud with Percy and Ozick with O'Connor because these Jewish and Catholic authors depict religious mystery in similar ways. Percy and Malamud use the quest form to give shape to mystery. In doing so, they show their characters moving toward a religious commitment. In contrast, O'Connor and Ozick use the grotesque and fantastic to evoke the numinous. Thus they embody the religious mystery that Malamud's and Percy's characters seek to encounter. Whether presenting a movement toward mystery or serving to evoke it, these four authors explore an ineffable dimension that readers need to sense in order to gain a better understanding of their works.

List of contents

Preface
Introduction
Making Physical the Mystery: Jewish Mitzvot and Catholic Sacraments
"Impossible to Say": Malamud's and Percy's Quests for Commitment
Throwing Everything Off Balance: Ozick's Fantastic and O'Connor's Grotesque Portrayals of Mystery
Conclusion
Works Cited

About the author

L. LAMAR NISLY is Associate Professor of English at Bluffton College. He has published in such journals as Studies in American Jewish Literature and Journal for Peace and Justice Studies.

Product details

• Authors: L. Lamar Nisly
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 7 to 17
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.06.2002
• EAN: 9780313320606
• ISBN: 978-0-313-32060-6
• No. of pages: 164
• Weight: 425 g
• Series: Contributions to the Study of American Literature
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; RELIGION / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies, LITERARY CRITICISM / Jewish, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, Religion & beliefs, American English, Jewish Studies, Regional Studies, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, Regional / International studies, The Americas, Religion and beliefs, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Relating to Jewish people and groups, Social groups: religious groups and communities, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form, The Arts: American Literature