"Michael Murphy's book is a singular contribution to the study of Hans Urs von Balthasar's theological enterprise. Murphy skillfully extends von Balthasar's aesthetic and dramatic concerns into a critical dialogue with postmodern assumptions about philosophy, theology, literature and the arts. Murphy argues, in effect, that von Balthasar offers both theologians and literary critics a path for doing "theological" criticism. Masterfully weaving his argument
through the works of Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, David Lodge, Denise Levertov, and Lars von Trier, Murphy demonstrates the vital link between theology and culture often missing in today's
intellectual discourse." --Mark Bosco, Loyola University Chicago
"Michael Murphy has advanced the fields of theology and literary criticism with this marvelous look at the relevance of the great theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar to literary studies. More important, in the connections made between literature and the Catholic imagination, Murphy paves a road towards a twenty-first century critical reading of the religious import of literary fiction." --Alejandro Garcia-Rivera, author of The Community of the Beautiful
"Michael Murphy's "A Theology of Criticism" is a remarkable and eye-opening book precisely because it fulfills the bold interdisciplinary promise of its title. It is at one and the same time an illuminating exposition of Balthasar's aesthetic theology and an equally illuminating explication of a number of modern texts-- fiction, poetry, and film-- that substantiates how Balthasar's thought can inform critical reading. Murphy offers a fresh paradigm and exemplum
for criticism, and on both the theoretical and practical levels he writes with intellectual incisiveness and passionate conviction." --Albert Gelpi, Stanford University
"Michael Murphy's book is a singular contribution to the study of Hans Urs von Balthasar's theological enterprise. Murphy skillfully extends von Balthasar's aesthetic and dramatic concerns into a critical dialogue with postmodern assumptions about philosophy, theology, literature and the arts. Murphy argues, in effect, that von Balthasar offers both theologians and literary critics a path for doing "theological" criticism. Masterfully weaving his argument
through the works of Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, David Lodge, Denise Levertov, and Lars von Trier, Murphy demonstrates the vital link between theology and culture often missing in today's
intellectual discourse." --Mark Bosco, Loyola University Chicago
"Michael Murphy has advanced the fields of theology and literary criticism with this marvelous look at the relevance of the great theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar to literary studies. More important, in the connections made between literature and the Catholic imagination, Murphy paves a road towards a twenty-first century critical reading of the religious import of literary fiction." --Alejandro Garcia-Rivera, author of The Community of the Beautiful
"Michael Murphy's "A Theology of Criticism" is a remarkable and eye-opening book precisely because it fulfills the bold interdisciplinary promise of its title. It is at one and the same time an illuminating exposition of Balthasar's aesthetic theology and an equally illuminating explication of a number of modern texts-- fiction, poetry, and film-- that substantiates how Balthasar's thought can inform critical reading. Murphy offers a fresh paradigm and exemplum
for criticism, and on both the theoretical and practical levels he writes with intellectual incisiveness and passionate conviction." --Albert Gelpi, Stanford University
"There have been recent studies about the so-called 'Catholic Imagination,' but very few of those works transcend their sociological context in order to present their findings systematically. Murphy's book is a rich, interdisciplinary explication. . . placing von Balthasar's thought not only within its historical and theological contexts, but also examining it in light of postmodernism. Murphy is in full control of the vocabulary of postmodern literary
criticism, and what makes his work so powerful is his insistence upon applying the conceptual framework of postmodernism to von Balthasar, all the while respecting and generally upholding von Balthasar's
claims . . . a remarkable tour de force for theologians, literary critics, and postmodernists alike."--Religion and the Arts
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