A Grain of Faith: Religion in Mid-Century British Literature
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Author Description
During And After The Second World War, There Was A Concerted Thinking About Religion In Britain. Not Only Were Leading International Thinkers Of The Day Theologians—ronald Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, Jacques Maritain—but Leading Writers Contributed To Discussions About Religion. Graham Greene, Muriel Spark, And Barbara Pym Incorporated Miracles, Evil, And Church-going Into Their Novels, While Louis Macneice, T. S. Eliot, And C. S. Lewis Gave Radio Broadcasts About The Role Of Christianity In Contemporary Society. Certainly The War Revived Interest In Aspects Of Christian Life. Salvation And Redemption Were On Many People's Minds. The Ministry Of Information Used Images Of Bombed Churches To Stoke Patriotic Fervour, And King George Vi Led A Series Of Days Of National Prayer That Coincided With Crucial Events In The Allied Campaign. After The War And Throughout The 1950s, Approximately 1.4 Million Britons Converted To Roman Catholicism As A Way Of Expressing Their Spiritual Ambitions And Solidarity With Humanity On A World-wide Scale. Religion Provided One Way For Writers To Answer The Question, 'what Is Man?' It Also Afforded Ways To Think About Social Obligation And Ethical Engagement. Moreover, The Mid-century Turn To Religion Offered Ways To Articulate Statehood, Not From The Perspective Of Nationhood And Politics, But From The Perspective Of Moral Action And Social Improvement. Instead Of Being A Retreat Into Seclusion And Solitude, The Mid-century Turn To Religion Is A Call To Responsibility.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates how religion functioned as a primary framework for moral, social, and political inquiry in British literature during and after the Second World War. Allan Hepburn, a scholar of twentieth-century literature, examines how writers and intellectuals utilized Christian discourse to address existential questions and define civic responsibility in a post-war landscape. By analyzing the intersection of theology and creative writing, the author argues that the mid-century turn to faith was not an act of withdrawal, but a deliberate engagement with the challenges of modern statehood and ethical action.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of literary works by authors such as Graham Greene, Muriel Spark, Barbara Pym, T. S. Eliot, and C. S. Lewis.
- Examination of the influence of international theologians like Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich on British cultural discourse.
- Historical context regarding the role of Christianity in the British war effort and the post-war rise in Roman Catholic conversions.
Scope Limits
- The study focuses primarily on the mid-century period and does not provide an exhaustive history of British religious literature across the entire twentieth century.
- The analysis centers on specific intellectual and literary circles, excluding a broader survey of popular religious movements outside of these elite spheres.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of mid-century British intellectual history and the intersection of theology and literature. Readers frequently note the academic rigor of the prose and the depth of the historical research provided by the author.
Page Count:
272
Publication Date:
2018-05-16
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192563645
ISBN-13:
9780192563644
Religion
History
Mid-Century Studies
Literary Criticism
British literature
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