Alice McDermott's work is often cited as being an exemplar of the best that contemporary Catholic literature has to offer, and yet sustained close readings of her fiction are lacking. In this essay, I discuss how her work fits in the larger conversation about contemporary literature of belief, focusing on her novels Charming Billy and Someone. In Charming Billy, McDermott connects the act of storytelling to the practice of belief, emphasizing how what we choose to believe affects how we act. In Someone, she uses the form of the novel to depict the patterns of grace that are present in our life, whether we are consciously aware of them or not. Both novels allow for the possibility of the divine presence at work in the world, but her characters' struggles over what to believe and how to act on these beliefs reflect the tensions of faith in the modern age. Alice McDermott's work is often cited as being an exemplar of the best that contemporary Catholic literature has to offer, and yet sustained close readings of her fiction are lacking. In this essay, I discuss how her work fits in the larger conversation about contemporary literature of belief, focusing on her novels Charming Billy and Someone. In Charming Billy, McDermott connects the act of storytelling to the practice of belief, emphasizing how what we choose to believe affects how we act. In Someone, she uses the form of the novel to depict the patterns of grace that are present in our life, whether we are consciously aware of them or not. Both novels allow for the possibility of the divine presence at work in the world, but her characters' struggles over what to believe and how to act on these beliefs reflect the tensions of faith in the modern age.
مجموعه
تاريخ نشر
2016
توصيف ظاهري
491-506
عنوان
Religion and the Arts
شماره جلد
20/4
شماره استاندارد بين المللي پياييندها
1568-5292
اصطلاحهای موضوعی کنترل نشده
اصطلاح موضوعی
Alice McDermott
اصطلاح موضوعی
Catholic literature
اصطلاح موضوعی
Charming Billy
اصطلاح موضوعی
postsecular literature
اصطلاح موضوعی
religion and literature
اصطلاح موضوعی
Someone
نام شخص به منزله سر شناسه - (مسئولیت معنوی درجه اول )