Making Good of What Is Hidden in Plain Sight: Sebald's AusterlitzTed Newell (Crandall University)Research Interest Group. [
Paper] W. G. Sebald's approach to the Holocaust in his novel Austerlitz opens up the unspeakable. In his protagonist, Sebald encapsulates the history of twentieth-century Europe that cannot be grasped straight on. Austerlitz finds himself on a picaresque journey toward truth. A hallmark of Jesus is to challenge denials of reality. In the prophets, “imaginations of their hearts” describes persons out of touch with the God who will ultimately insist on reality. Two poles anchor a pedagogy of seeing whole – resistance, and beauty. Beauty answers the question: if the gospel is true, what will its world look like? Imagination is creativity in visual arts or music, but is also becoming willing to act upon that which we occlude. Examples of transformative Christian social imagination are many. Religious education has an outstanding vocation of hope.
Sacred Encounters: Fostering the Religious Imagination through LiteratureDennis Gunn (Iona College)Research Interest Group. [
Paper] Literature can be a powerful lens through which we can encounter the sacred, inviting us to experience mystery, opening our awareness to deeper meaning in the midst of the ordinary, and beckoning us to a sense of greater inter-connectedness with the world we live in. In a word, literature can speak the language of the religious imagination. Using examples from the works of Flannery O'Connor, Alice Walker, and TS Eliot, this study will explore the potential of literature for fostering the religious imagination in the context of teaching religion.
