Research Catalog

Title

Beneath the veil of the strange verses : reading scandalous texts / Jeremiah L. Alberg.

Author

Alberg, Jeremiah, 1957-

Publication

East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, c2013.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xviii, 139 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

Alberg (philosophy and religion, International Christian U.) interrogates the dynamics of libidinal revelation in several readings of classical and more modern texts. In particular, he is focusing on scandal and the way that becoming scandalized reflects the process of (community) conflict and its potential resolution. He draws on the work of René Girard on mimetic desire, Jean Jacques Rousseau's publicly visible scoundrel in the racks, and Nietzsche's aesthetic rivalry with Christianity. He offers readings from Dante to Christian scriptures to Flannery O'Conner that illustrate how scandal operates in a literary and rhetorical context. He argues in the end that "the true movement away from scandal includes a reordering of our interpersonal relations that frees from rivalry. It is a delivery from the thrall of false or deviated transcendence of violence to an encounter with true transcendence." Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Series Statement

Studies in violence, mimesis, and culture series

Uniform Title

Project Muse UPCC books

Subject

• Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321
• Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900
• Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778
• O'Connor, Flannery > Criticism and interpretation
• Philosophical anthropology
• Scandals
• Scandals in literature
• Violence
• Violence in the Bible
• Sacrifice
• Forgiveness

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-136) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The language of scandal and the scandal of language -- The fascination of Friedrich Nietzsche -- The scandal of Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- The interpretation of Dante Alighieri -- The lesson of the Gospels -- The challenge of Flannery O'Connor.

ISBN

• 9781609173647 (ebook)
• 1609173643 (ebook)
• 9781611860764 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 1611860768 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2012028145

OCLC

• 800447653
• SCSB-12602617

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library