Ritual Performance in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor
Ritual Performance in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor

Author: Cynthia Seel

Publisher: Camden House

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9781571131966

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"The study begins with an exploration of O'Connor's Southern milieu, a survey of relevant scholarship (particularly feminist theory), and a clarification of essential terms and concepts surrounding ritual. The remaining chapters are then dedicated to the six short stories, each of which depicts certain ritual patterns and archetypal models. In this way, the study furnishes a prototype that can be applied to O'Connor's entire oeuvre." "Ritual Performance in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor is an excellent resource for teachers and students of American literature, Southern Studies, feminist theory, and ritual studies. Because it is story-centered rather than theory-driven, it will appeal to those who are looking for ways to read (and teach) O'Connor's astonishing stories more deeply."--BOOK JACKET.

Evelyn Underhill
Evelyn Underhill

Author: Dana Greene

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1988-08-04

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1438404778

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Evelyn Underhill was a pioneer in revitalizing interest in mysticism and in the spiritual life as lived by ordinary people. Here are some of her articles that demonstrate the variety and development of her thought over forty years. The themes of magic and mysticism, prayer and pacifism are all considered, with particular emphasis on Underhill's focus on personal religious experience, its nurturance in prayer, its protection by institutional religion, and its implications for all aspects of life. Together, the pieces illuminate the author's move from Platonism to the incarnational spirituality lived out during the years between the world wars. Greene's interpretive introduction to the life and work of this contemporary mystic is most helpful for those previously unfamiliar with Underhill. The book contains the most complete bibliography available on works by and about this important woman.

Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor

Author: Preston M. Browning

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2009-08-18

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1606085344

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When Flannery O'Connor began writing in the early 1950's, many reviewers assumed that she was little more than a talented female Erskine Caldwell, writing in the Southern gothic mode. And indeed her work was filled with freaks, one-armed con men, and pathological killers. By the time she died in 1964, serious readers of her fiction knew there was much more involved in her stories. What that extra was she called the added dimension, that is, the spiritual depth which she believed was as an ineluctable part of human life. Her stories dramatize the ways in which the holy or the sacred break into human life with the result of shocking readers out of their spiritual somnolence using characters who appear to be possessed by the Devil and who commit acts of terrifying violence. Browning bases his study of the works of O'Connor on the centrality of the yoking of opposites at the point where the opposites coincide, where violent crime and attraction for the Holy are held in tension, suggesting that out of this tension grew O'Connor's extraordinary creative power and unique vision. From this point of departure, Browning offers a detailed analysis of four O'Connor books: Wise Blood, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, The Violent Bear It Away, and Everything That Rises Must Converge.

The Half-Known World
The Half-Known World

Author: Robert Boswell

Publisher: Graywolf Press

Published: 2011-07-05

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 1555970214

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A rigorous examination of the workings of fiction by the novelist Robert Boswell, "one of America's finest writers" (Tom Perrotta) Robert Boswell has been writing, reading, and teaching literature for more than twenty years. In this sparkling collection of essays, he brings this vast experience and a keen critical eye to bear on craft issues facing literary writers. Examples from masters such as Leo Tolstoy, Flannery O'Connor, and Alice Munro illustrate this engaging discussion of what makes great writing. At the same time, Boswell moves readers beyond the classroom, candidly sharing the experiences that have shaped his own writing life. A chance encounter in a hotel bar leads to a fascinating glimpse into his imaginative process. And through the story of a boyhood adventure, Boswell details how important it is for writers to give themselves over to what he calls the "half-known world" of fiction, where surprise and meaning converge.

Flannery O'Connor's Sacramental Art
Flannery O'Connor's Sacramental Art

Author: Susan Srigley

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13:

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An integration of O'Connor's anthropology, her Catholic theological and philosophical beliefs, and her unique storyteller's art.