The Poets' Jesus
Representations at the End of a Millennium
Published on 17. January 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-19-515164-0 (ISBN)
Description
Poets have always been the medium through which a culture talks of, and to, its gods. Now, in this learned but lively commentary, Peggy Rosenthal shows us the astonishing range of poetic encounters with Jesus. With a special emphasis on twentieth-century poetry, Rosenthal draws from an unprecedented range of world poetry--from Africa, the Arab world, and the Far East to Latin America and the West--to give readers an understanding of how different times and different cultures have affected the way poets refigure Jesus and of how poets' fascination with the man from Nazareth transcends all barriers. She also demonstrates that, despite the twentieth century's self-definition as a secular and post-Christian epoch, it has produced poetry about Jesus of truly surprising quality and variety. Impeccably researched and extremely accessible, The Poets Jesus will strongly appeal to scholars of poetry and religion as well as for all general readers of poetry.
Reviews / Votes
Explores how different cultural contexts have influenced the way poets represent Jesus ... There is a fascinating chapter on Arabic poetry, T.S. Eliot, cruelty, and waste and another on Samuel Beckett leading back to W.H. Auden ... Will interest scholars of poetry and religion as well as general readers of poetry. * Library Journal * a short, reader-friendly account of how poets have rendered Jesus, primarily from the 19th century to the present ... also, in passing, a swift overview of the last two centuries of Christian theology and Western culture. * Peter Steinfels, The New York Times * Rosenthal's range is ambitious ... [Her] arguments are convincing, her examples compelling and her knowledge of contemporary poets impressive. Her clear prose style and her avoidance of the distancing parlance of current literary theory make this a valuable study not only for the scholar of literature but for the general reader who would like to see the old familiars in a fresh context and, in the process, be introduced to new and provocative images of Jesus. * Christian Century *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10 Fotos bzw. Rasterbilder
10 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
339 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-515164-0 (9780195151640)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2000
Oxford University Press Inc
€179.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Peggy Rosenthal has taught courses on poetry and spirituality at St. Bernards Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology and at Wheaton College. Her previous books include Words and Values and Divine Inspiration.
Content
1. Jesus as Christ and More: The First Eighteen Centuries ; 2. Jesus as Romantic Hero ; 3. Sliding into Modernism: Jesus Pale and Shrunken ; 4. Crisis of the Secularized West: Postmodernism's Jesus as Anti-Hero ; 5. Crucified Africa: The Politicized Jesus of Africa and Beyond ; 6. Archetypal Christ: Arabic Poetry and other Wastelands ; 7. Jesus Absent ; 8. Between Absence and Presence: Playing Around with Jesus ; 9. Jesus Present