Dickens and the Bible
by Jennifer Gribble
2020-12-30 13:12:52
At a time when biblical authority was under challenge from the Higher Criticism and evolutionary science, âwhat providence meantâ was the most keenly contested of questions. This book takes up the controversial subject of Dickens and religi...
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At a time when biblical authority was under challenge from the Higher Criticism and evolutionary science, âwhat providence meantâ was the most keenly contested of questions. This book takes up the controversial subject of Dickens and religion, and offers a significant contribution to the interdisciplinary area of religion and literature. In a close study of major novels, it argues that networks of biblical allusion reveal the Judeo-Christian grand narrative as key to his development as a writer, and as the ontological ground on which he stands to appeal to âthe conscience of a Christian peopleâ. Engaging the biblical narrative in dialogue with other contemporary narratives that concern themselves with origins, destinations, and hermeneutic decipherments, the inimitable Dickens affirms the Bibleâs still-active role in popular culture. The providential thinking of two twentieth-century theorists, Bakhtin and Ricoeur, sheds light on an exploration of Dickensâs narrative theology.
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