Nailed and Aflame: Annie Dillard's Bonaventurian Mysticism
This article argues that Annie Dillard's work presents a unique, contemporary expression of cruciform mysticism. The article first contextualizes Dillard as a thinker who moves beyond the traditional Christian demarcations of the via positiva and the via negativa, as well as a writer who goes b...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2019
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| In: |
Religion & literature
Year: 2019, Volume: 51, Issue: 2, Pages: 91-112 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality CD Christianity and Culture KCA Monasticism; religious orders |
| Further subjects: | B
Christianity
B Cultural History B Solidarity B Political Theology B Christian Ethics |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article argues that Annie Dillard's work presents a unique, contemporary expression of cruciform mysticism. The article first contextualizes Dillard as a thinker who moves beyond the traditional Christian demarcations of the via positiva and the via negativa, as well as a writer who goes beyond the ecstatic experiences of natural transcendentalists. I claim that Dillard is a mystic, but one who more closely aligns with the Franciscan tradition in general and Bonaventure in particular. I show that her negative experiences of ecstasy express a distinct commitment to the form of the cross and offer a challenging vision of cruciform solidarity. This article fits within the collection of writings on Dillard's non-fiction, but highlights further riches that come from her cruciform mystical dimensions. I argue that Dillard's increased mystical and religious range in her later work indicates not a decision against Christianity, but rather a decision against whitewashed imagery of resurrected glory. I show how Dillard's whole corpus reveals a profound marking by the cross, as well as the need for and cost of Christian solidarity with the world's wounded. |
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| ISSN: | 2328-6911 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & literature
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/rel.2019.0026 |