G. K. Chesterton Essaying Myth
Some of G. K. Chesterton's most potent myths do not extend beyond a sentence or two--a fact that has been overlooked in studies of his mythic imagination. Chesterton showed great interest in the larger metaphysical and theological implications of myth throughout his career in works from The Bal...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Notre Dame
[2018]
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| In: |
Religion & literature
Year: 2018, Volume: 50, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 39-63 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Chesterton, G. K. 1874-1936
/ Essay
/ Myth
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| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Theology
B ORTHODOXY (Book) B EVERLASTING Man, The (Book) B Myth B CHESTERTON, G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936 |
| Summary: | Some of G. K. Chesterton's most potent myths do not extend beyond a sentence or two--a fact that has been overlooked in studies of his mythic imagination. Chesterton showed great interest in the larger metaphysical and theological implications of myth throughout his career in works from The Ballad of the White Horse to The Everlasting Man] however, he also engaged in weaving "lesser myths" that seem to have only a distant connection to the "Christian Mythopoeic Imagination" so often traced in his work. These lesser myths are more playful, whimsical, and even pagan in that they do not seem to rest on a believed metaphysical or theological truth. This article, drawing on Chesterton's essayistic canon, shapes a picture of Chesterton's mythic imagination, taking into account these "sentence-level myths." It shows that Chesterton's myth making is both smaller and larger than has yet been allowed. It also suggests that criticism of Chesterton's work will benefit from treating these lesser myths as unique formal moments with their own meaning-making potential before affixing them to some larger Christian truth-myth framework. |
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| ISSN: | 2328-6911 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & literature
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