The Poetics of Illumination

Michael Madsen’s documentary about the disposal of nuclear waste in Finland uses a symbolic language whose meaning can be amplified by St. Augustine’s theology, and in particular by his theories of reading. Because nuclear waste remains dangerous for 100,000 years, the problem of its disposal forces...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tangney, John (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2017
In: Religion and the arts
Year: 2017, Volume: 21, Issue: 5, Pages: 642-656
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Into eternity (Film) / The Holy / Environment / Platonism
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
NCG Environmental ethics; Creation ethics
Further subjects:B Augustine Platonism nuclear documentary Madsen environment deep time hermeneutics
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:Michael Madsen’s documentary about the disposal of nuclear waste in Finland uses a symbolic language whose meaning can be amplified by St. Augustine’s theology, and in particular by his theories of reading. Because nuclear waste remains dangerous for 100,000 years, the problem of its disposal forces us to think about the inevitable end of our own civilization. The necessity to place warnings on the waste burial sites demands that we find ways to speak to people in the future with whom we may have no cultural continuity. It makes ancient theories of eternity newly relevant, and potentially awakens our sense of the sacred in a world that has been stripped of sacredness during the scientific era that gave rise to nuclear power in the first place.
ISSN:1568-5292
Contains:In: Religion and the arts
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02105004