The Poets' Jesus Representations at the End of a Millennium

by Rosenthal, Peggy

• ISBN13: 9780195131147
• ISBN10: 0195131142
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

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.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

Jesus as Christ and More: The First Eighteen Centuries	3	(20)
Jesus as Romantic Hero	23	(27)
Sliding into Modernism: Jesus Pale and Shrunken	50	(19)
Crisis of the Secularized West: Postmodernism's Jesus as Antithero	69	(15)
Crucified Africa: The Politicized Jesus of Africa and Beyond	84	(17)
Archetypal Christ: Arabic Poetry and Other Wastelands	101	(11)
Jesus Absent	112	(24)
Between Absence and Presence: Playing Around with Jesus	136	(15)
Jesus Present	151	(23)
Notes	174	(9)
Permissions Acknowledgments	183	(1)
Notes on the Artists	184	(1)
Index	185