Christianity and Literature

This paper offers an in-depth examination of Dalit Kitchen in Marathwada by Shahu Patole, a groundbreaking work within Dalit literature that brings together culinary traditions, caste dynamics, and cultural identity. More than a collection of regional recipes or a memoir of gastronomic nostalgia, Patole’s narrative functions as a politically charged cultural archive. It foregrounds the lived realities of Dalit communities in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, revealing how food operates simultaneously as a source of nourishment, a bearer of memory, and a powerful metaphor for social exclusion and resistance. Through the lens of food studies, subaltern theory, and Dalit autobiography, this paper argues that the Dalit kitchen, as described by Patole is not a passive domestic site but a vibrant space of agency, struggle, and self-definition. It critically interrogates caste-based food taboos, the Brahmanical notions of purity and pollution, and the socio-cultural hierarchies that shape culinary preferences and access. Patole’s text elevates the everyday act of cooking into an act of cultural assertion, documenting the ingenuity, resilience, and creativity of Dalit communities, particularly women, in transforming meagre resources into nourishing meals. The paper situates Patole’s work within a broader corpus of Dalit narratives that use personal memory and vernacular storytelling to challenge hegemonic historical accounts. By writing in Marathi and employing colloquial idioms, Patole preserves the authenticity of oral traditions and resists the aestheticization of Dalit experiences by dominant literary canons. Ultimately, the paper contends that Dalit Kitchen in Marathwada reimagines the kitchen as a radical site of expression where stories simmer alongside spices, and where every dish served is instilled with the flavour of resistance, survival, and reclaimed dignity. This work expands the boundaries of both food writing and Dalit literature, asserting the cultural and political significance of what is often dismissed as the mundane.

Context-aware is the ability of an application reacts to changes of the environment. Context-aware applications, like smart systems are rapidly developed recently.Unknowingly, context-aware applications are more common in one’s daily life.Traditional dry-erase whiteboard is an example of convention context-aware method in office environment to record staff activities. There are four (4) main problems of the usage of traditional whiteboard in displaying academic staffs’ status in the office: (1) Limited time to update the information. (2) Non-real time information. (3) Limited space to write. (4) No data storage. Therefore, a Context-aware Digital Whiteboard (CAW) is proposed to solve the problems of traditional dry-erase whiteboard in administrator office of Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences (FSKM). The proposed system embeds context-aware elements that able users to be more conscious of what activities currently are going on in the workplace. In summary, the whiteboard ...

Der Lepanto-Almanach will die historischen Schätze einer Literatur auf christlich-abendländischem Fundament diskursiv in Erinnerung rufen. Zugleich fragt er nach den Spielräumen christlich inspirierter Kunst und christlicher Autorschaft in unserer Zeit. Er hat sich als Forum des besonnenen Nachdenkens im Angesicht des kulturellen Aufruhrs etabliert. – Der neue Doppeljahrgang bietet wieder Grundlagenbeiträge ebenso wie Essays, Studien und Skizzen zur Literatur- und Geistesgeschichte aus christlicher Perspektive. Dabei wird die Frage nach dem Wechselverhältnis von Wahrheit und Schönheit und von Sprache und Wirklichkeit thematisiert. Die geistliche Literatur des Protestantismus steht im Mittelpunkt von Porträts, die Autoren zeigen, die im Schatten älterer und neuerer Kriege ein dennoch lichtvolles Schaffen entfalteten (u. a. Paul Gerhardt, Rudolf Alexander Schröder, Jochen Klepper). Andere Beiträge rücken in Kontinuität zu den Akzenten früherer Bände das für die katholische deutsche Literaturbewegung des 20. Jahrhunderts zentrale Werk Gertrud von le Forts und Reinhold Schneiders in den Fokus. Ein umfangreicher Abschnitt mit kleineren Einwürfen, Betrachtungen und Besprechungen schließt das Jahrbuch in bewährter Weise ab.

In India, the right to health is a fundamental human right for the citizens. Yet, the accessibility of healthcare facilities comes with certain barriers, especially for the marginalized sections of the society. Marginalized communities are those systematically excluded from full participation in society, often due to factors like race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, disability or geographical location, leading to limited access to healthcare. This paper focuses on the access to healthcare facilities of the population of Dakshin Dhupjhora, Dooars, West Bengal, mainly comprising tribals and Rajbanshi ethnic groups. It makes an attempt to examine how the socio-economic, geographical and institutional challenges hinder equitable healthcare access for these populations. It explores the impact of poverty, caste-based discrimination, inadequate infrastructure, urban-rural divide and inefficiencies of governmental policies on health outcomes on these marginalized and vulnerable communities. Focusing on this geographical area, with the help of both primary and secondary data, the study highlights the struggles of tribal and ethnic communities, predominantly working in the tea estates, in accessing the public health services. This study underscores the health imperatives for the rural and marginalized population of Dooars, which are essential to realize the constitutional right to health and reduce inequities among these vulnerable communities.

This paper provides a comparative exploration of Saguna by Krupabai Satthianadhan and The High-Caste Hindu Woman by Pandita Ramabai, emphasizing themes of ambivalence, performativity, and identity reconstruction within the framework of 19th-century colonial India. Both works examine the intricate relationship between gender, religion, and systemic injustice, portraying women's struggles to navigate societal constraints, reclaim their identities, and seek empowerment. Analyzing these narratives through a theological perspective, this paper investigates ideas of divine justice, redemption, and the Imago Dei. It illustrates how the authors critique patriarchal and caste-based structures while envisioning hope and transformative change. The study also highlights the significance of education, faith, and community in moving from oppression to empowerment, showcasing the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative potential of divine grace.

Students will study selected works by George MacDonald, G. K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Owen Barfield (and possibly other ancillary writers) with a dual emphasis on literary craftsmanship and theological insight. Prerequisites: Completion of one 200-level English course and Sophomore standing.  Three semester hours credit.

A study of significant literature by important Christian writers from the first century until the present. This course is designed to be a resource for those in Christian ministry. Prerequisite: ENG 152 and Sophomore standing. Three semester hours credit.

Në shtëpinë tonë prej guri -të madhe, të heshtur, me dy dritare që shikonin jashtë dhe një të tretë që shikonte nga brenda, në katin e dytë -kishte një vend të vogël e të shenjtë: një dritare e adoptuar si bibliotekë. Aty, në raftin modest të bufesë së familjes, vëllai im i madh, i urtë dhe i lexuar, radhiste librat me kujdes të shenjtë. Ai ishte një dritë për mendjen time -më thoshte shpesh: "Je ende e vogël për këto libra..."

We are to consider what men wrote, and our judgement on it must, of course, attempt to be literary, not theological. This does not mean that we are to confine ourselves rigidly to questions of style. Though we must not judge our authors' doctrine as doctrine, we must certainly attempt to disengage the spirit and temper of their writings to see what particular insights or insensibilities went with the varying beliefs, what kinds of sentiment and imagination they unwittingly encouraged. C. S. Lewis, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, excluding Drama

En 1959 y 1963, Flannery O'Connor ofreció al mundo dos aproximaciones extremadamente valiosas a la filosofía zen y sus métodos de meditación, a través de dos reseñas que ensalzaban los valores de escuela tradicional oriental para con el desarrollo de la vida cotidiana en Estados Unidos. En esos años, publicaría dos reseñas sobre tratados de filosofía zen, una que vería la luz en 1959 y otra que permanecería inédita hasta 1983. El objetivo del presente artículo es estudiar cómo O'Connor, católica y sureña, reflexionó los postulados del zen para con su vida cotidiana, a través del acceso a los textos reseñados.

Anthony David Stephen Smith’s definition of nationalism as a feeling of “intense bond of solidarity”, when applied to contemporary Mizo nationalist consciousness, is a bond born not out of pre-historic kinship but of shared grief and a spiritual anchor in Christianity. The MNF movement for self-determination, which began with half-hearted support from the people spiraled off into the most violent and darkest period in Mizo history known as Rambuai (1966-1986) which, when translated into English, means ‘troubled land’. The human experience of this period has been a subject of Mizo literature. Three works of fiction— Nunna Kawngthuam Puiah (1989), Silaimu Ngaihawm (2012) and Zorami: A Redemption Song (2015) are among the best literary representations of human suffering in the troubled land. These works will be used as textual bases upon which the role of religion and spirituality in bringing about a reconciliation and healing can be studied. The paper examines how the rambuai memories...

Umberto Eco on Joyce and Aquinas "Perhaps Aquinas would understand me better than you." Silence can be caused by the absence of speech or it can be a consequence of our inability to hear. It is sometimes hard to ascertain. We find ourselves precisely in this uncomfortable situation when, pressing medieval culture with modern questions, we fall short of any conclusive answer. The splendour of the intellectual, literary, and artistic legacy of the Middle Ages is evident. However, when we say that this legacy does not speak to us, is it because it really does not have anything to say or because we are unable to grasp its true relevancy? In order to scrutinize the alternatives, it might be wise to have recourse to qualified interpreters, by which I mean experts in both "cultural languages," so to speak. If any of our living contemporaries deserves the title of interpreter, it is certainly Umberto Eco. He is not only a qualified interpreter in terms of literary criticism, but, as a semiotician in his own right, he can also rightly lay claim to being today's most significant theoretician of the interpretational process. Moreover, when we

In his writings, particularly in the current ecological context. It concerns the world called Arda, in which Middle-earth is situated, wherein the stories of the Hobbit and of The Lord of the Rings unfold. In the Hobbit, not only to the future of the intelligent and free beings which populate Arda. Charles Ridoux (2012: 9) recalls that the ages of Middle-earth go from before creation to after the end of the world, dimension is, in my opinion, intertwined with three dimensions of Tolkien's work: the death and Tolkien this loss bears an ecological significance from the perspective of the critique of technoscientific civilization. Finally, we meet the theme of eucatastrophe. In this paper, I will focus on the two latter in order to propose some ethical reflections on ecology.

L’essai que résume cet article développe l’idée que si le christianisme se revendique comme la religion de la vérité et de la raison, cela trouve son origine dans le glissement de sens de la traduction de l’hébreu au grec d’emeth par alètheia, c’est-à-dire de vérité d’autorité par vérité par la raison, et de dabar par logos, c’est-à-dire de parole par parole mais aussi raison. L’Eglise a dès lors pu s’approprier l’unicité et l’universalité de la vérité et de la raison, et substituer au « Dieu jaloux » de l’Ancien Testament le « Dieu de vérité », plus présentable aux yeux des Grecs, mais tout aussi exclusiviste, avec les conséquences que l’on sait en termes de violence contre les hérétiques, les idolâtres, les juifs, les athées, etc.

This paper explores the crisis of identity in the digital age, using a poignant scene from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as a metaphor for the modern struggle with selfhood. Lucy's desire to become like her sister Susan, and her consequent disillusionment, illustrates the psychological and spiritual dangers of abandoning one's authentic self for socially approved ideals. In contemporary culture, where social media platforms have become key arenas for self-presentation, identity formation is increasingly shaped by the need for visibility, validation, and public approval. Drawing from social psychology and media studies-including works by Adriana M. Manago, Alan Rubin, and Jeffrey Jenson-the paper examines how digital environments influence self-perception, foster social comparison, and contribute to fragile self-esteem. The narrative is deepened through theological reflection, especially from Thomas Merton, who emphasizes that true identity is not found in public projections but in a spiritual union with God. The paper argues that in a culture obsessed with curated appearances and performance, Christians are called to resist the commodification of identity and instead cultivate the interior life where God alone reveals our true self. Authenticity, therefore, is not a narcissistic pursuit but a spiritual journey toward divine communion, reminding us that our real value and identity are rooted in God, not in the mirror of social validation.

In his own day George MacDonald was a public personality and a well-known literary figure. Many of the leading critical journals printed long articles on his work, and he was considered "one of the most popular authors of the day" (London Quarterly Review, 1869, 402). During the 1860s and 1870s MacDonald's friends included John Ruskin,

Given the historical interaction between Jurgen Moltmann and Paul Ricoeur, constructing their dialogue is not unprecedented. Nevertheless, there is yet a work devoted to exploring a possible fusion of their insights on this topic: biblical revelation. Hence, this essay explores how the insights of the theologian and the philosopher can converge with each other with respect to biblical revelation. Thus, this essay can be located within the field of hermeneutics as well as theological epistemology. And it proposes the following thesis: Ricoeur’s notion ‘the world of the text’ finds a theological foothold in Moltmann’s ‘promise’ that Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of revelation can be rendered theological density This essay consists two main parts (part 3 and part 4), which respectively assume the tasks of analysing Ricoeur’s philosophy of hermeneutics of revelation and converging which with Moltmann’s theology. One the one hand, part 3 analyses the textual dynamics that give rise to ‘the world of the text’, identifying emplotment (configuration), modes of discourse, and temporalities as essential factors of the ‘text’s world’. Also, text-reader dynamics is taken into consideration to account for the imagination and action of readers in reception of biblical revelation. On the other hand, part 4 demonstrates the aforementioned convergence by comparing ‘the world of the text’ and ‘promise’, illustrating their similarity in terms of these conceptual facets: inexhaustibility, appropriation, imagination and ‘contradictory character’ while presenting that Ricoeur and Moltmann shares compatibles views towards Cross-and-Resurrection which provide theological basis for their respective notions.

Статья исследует трансформации советской массовой культуры после смерти Сталина в 1953 году, фокусируясь на уфимской женской выставке 1954 года как ключевом примере расцентровки культурного порядка. Автор анализирует, как утрата центральной фигуры вождя привела к переосмыслению культурных форм, включая архитектуру, искусство и национальные мотивы. Особое внимание уделяется роли цветка как символа, который, утратив связь с ультрамодернистскими амбициями сталинской эпохи, становится маркером гендерных и социальных изменений. Статья подчёркивает, что 1950-е годы стали периодом формирования основ позднесоветской культуры, где национальные и производственные образы, лишённые прежней идеологической нагрузки, начинают циркулировать в новых контекстах. Автор также рассматривает выставку как отражение расширения пространства индивидуального и коллективного самовыражения, что впоследствии способствовало эрозии авторитетного дискурса и распаду советской культурной системы.

Monnica as a Figure of Art As mother of the bishop of Hippo and as a literary character in the Confessions, Monnica at an early date became a personality known to a wide public: in 1945 in Ostia, the site of her death and her first burial place, a fragment was found of the grave inscription set up there either during Augustine's lifetime or a few years after his death. Monnica has been a saint of the Catholic Church since the twelfth century and hence the subject of countless book illustrations, paintings, and frescoes or stained glass in Christian sacred buildings. Her sarcophagus, in which relics are preserved, stands today in the church of Sant'Agostino in Rome. Saint Monica of Thagaste is the patron saint of women and mothers and is responsible for saving the souls of children. She has also given her name to a beachfront city in southern California and to the famous boulevard in Hollywood, the main strip to the hip and famous. Behind the success story of the figure of art "Monnica" stands the literary moulding by her own son: in Augustine's account in the autobiographical books of the Confessions she is depicted as a convinced and pious Christian, who ensured that he-as he says-"was already signed with the sign of the cross and seasoned with salt from the time I came from my mother's womb" (Conf. 1.17), and who congratulated him, after his famous conversion experience in the garden in Milan, on his decision to serve only God and to lead a celibate life (Conf. 8.30).

In this contribution I will try to show the "internal logic" that regulates the problem of evil in Tolkien. In particular, I will show how Tolkien thematizes Good and Evil (understood as "opposing sides"), with a particular focus on the Orcs who, from a thomistic point of view, shuold be considered evil but not guilty. Article published on "Lembas Extra 2024" pp. 173-200.

Victorian England, a society corseted by propriety and rigid gender roles, casts a longshadow over the enigmatic poems of Christina Rossetti and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Yet,beneath the surface of decorum and piety, these verses simmer with a potent brew of forbiddendesires, fractured identities, and the unsettling whispers of the unconscious. Like peering into akaleidoscope, each turn of phrase reveals a new facet of the psyche, beckoning us to delve intothe labyrinthine depths of the self through the lens of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis. ______________________________________________________________________________ In "Goblin Market," one encounter Laura, a young woman teetering on the precipice of temptation. The goblin men, with their "luscious and strange" fruits (line 18), become potent symbols of the Freudian id, its primal urges whispering promises of ecstasy and self-discovery. As she succumbs to their allure, Laura embarks on a descent into the forbidden,her senses intoxicated by the "strange music" and "veiled eyes" (lines 25, 26) of the other. This encounter echoes Lacan's concept of the desiring gaze, the Other's gaze that fragmentsthe self and compels one towards the unknown. According to Jeannette King "The poem's complex symbolism of food and consumption ... reflects the Victorian woman's contradictory desires for both domesticity and self-definition." The dreamlike imagery, with its "soft andsoundless motions" of the goblin men (lines 44-45), plunges us into the realm of theImaginary, a pre-linguistic space where desires simmer and identities take fluid shapes. While "Goblin Market" explores desire within the confines of Victorian femininity, Dante Gabriel's"Body's Beauty and Soul's Beauty" shatters these limitations. The speaker grapples with aduality: the "body stripped to its bareness" (line 14) symbolizing earthly constraints,and the "soul unclothed" (line 13) yearning for a transcendent unity beyond thephysical.This dichotomy resonates with Freud's concept of the castration complex, where the woman isdefined by lack and absence. But the speaker refuses to be confined by this definition. They embrace the "monstrous feminine," a concept explored by Luce Irigaray, declaring: "I have no heart, I have no brain, / I am the night, I am the pain" (lines

La question de la polémique entre les païens et les chrétiens a suscité dans une Europe
christianisée l’intérêt certain des intellectuels. Il faut attendre la renaissance et la redécouverte
des textes païens pour que le sujet soit réellement posé : comment et pourquoi les païens et les
chrétiens se sont-ils affrontés.
Ce mémoire propose une relecture attentive de tous les textes, qu’ils soient païens ou chrétiens.
Relire les fragments des auteurs païens et les réfutations des apologistes chrétiens permet de
mieux cerner les arguments des deux camps qui se répondent. Alors que l’analyse purement
chronologique des textes a déjà été faite par Pierre de Labriolle, nous proposons une analyse
thématique puis chronologique : nous nous intéressons à des thèmes, des arguments et des
critiques qui ont jalonné la polémique du IIe au Ve siècle, suivant les travaux de Xavier Levieils.
L’étude des arguments des deux camps permet de comprendre les évolutions du paganisme et
de la société romaine tout au long de la polémique, quelles sont les grandes incompatibilités du
christianisme avec la société traditionnelle romaine et quelle fut la stratégie de païens.

Negli studi tolkieniani vi è un crescente interesse per le possibilie connessioni tra J.R.R.Tolkien e Tommaso d'Aquino, come attesta anche il recente articolo di Seth Kreeger's "Metaphysical Considerations in Ea. Creation and Providence in Tolkien and Aquinas" (Tolkien Studies Vol XX 2023 pp. 145-169) a cui qui muovo alcune critiche

The purpose of this paper is to reconsider Kant s philosophy of religion, and reconstruct it in the context of the modern secular society. In particular, I would like to consider this problem referring to Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone (1793). The first point that requires clarification is Kant s thought of radical evil. The second argument concerns the theory of religion , especially of the concept of evil in reference to the secular society. So, it is concluded that it should be characterized from the point of the postmetaphysical thinking and the secular stage of modern age.

Literature has historically played a crucial didactic role, particularly through the exploration of the moral dichotomy between good and evil, thus contributing to human moral development. These narratives often seek to depict the moral struggles and choices of individuals, indirectly shaping societal views on morality and responsibility.
This paper examines the motivations underpinning acts of evil as depicted in literary works, aiming to grasp how such portrayals explain and influence perceptions of human behaviour, responsibility, and the educational potential of literature. By integrating contributions from neuroscience, it explores the extent to which these depictions align with or challenge our understanding of free will and moral agency.
Findings indicate that many portrayals of malevolence in literature can be traced to impairments in executive functions and decision-making processes, highlighting a potentially deterministic undercurrent in character actions. This perspective raises questions about traditional views on morality and free will, as it suggests that characters’ choices may lack genuine autonomy. Consequently, this challenges the assumed educational function of literature by positing that such narratives may not reflect true moral agency but rather predetermined cognitive and psychological predispositions. These insights call for a re-evaluation of the role of literature in moral education, as neuroscience increasingly suggests that human agency may be more constrained than previously thought.

When Frodo and Sam encounter a desecrated statue of a king while journeying to Mordor, the prose clearly recalls Shelley’s “Ozymandias”. The similar imagery of power found in Shelley’s famous sonnet and Tolkien’s equally famous work of fantasy invites discussion on their differing political views. Shelley was a revolutionary thinker, a Republican, whereas Tolkien was a conservative monarchist. The roots for their political attitudes are then sought in their distinct spiritualities. Whereas Shelley found the ultimate reality in the dialectical Spirit of Nature, Tolkien held fast to the personalistic Christian God. These beliefs persistently influence their opinions and works.

Even some of John Milton's greatest admirers will admit that Paradise Lost is a work beset by contradictions. His decision to make an episode from the Bible, the fall of Adam and Eve, the subject of his epic masterwork was fraught with unintended consequences. Imposing the world of epic onto the biblical story is an uneasy marriage at best. Making the biblical Satan into an epic protagonist, for example, creates the well-known Satanist controversy. Likewise, representing the Christian God using conventions from ancient epic is the source of the debate surrounding Milton's God.  These are real conflicts and difficulties. But I will show how epic and Bible actually need each other in Paradise Lost. They complement each other on one level even while they inevitably conflict on other levels. Epic and Bible need each other by the logic of Renaissance aesthetics as theorized by Eric Gans.

La obra del teólogo belga Charles Moeller (1912-1986) se divide en tres partes: un buen conjunto de libros dedicado al diálogo cristiano con la literatura antigua y moderna; otro cuerpo dedicado a distintos aspectos del ecumenismo; y una buena Historia del esquema XIII (convertido en Gaudium et spes), que fue uno de los documentos del Concilio donde Moeller más trabajó. Con todo, seguramente lo más original de Moeller es el asombroso conjunto de estudios literarios que realizó sobre grandes autores del siglo XX. Elaboraba sus artículos leyendo a fondo a cada autor, extrayendo excelentes citas y componiendo una admirable visión de conjunto. Enriqueció la teología con la experiencia humana reflejada en la literatura.

Cet article propose une presentation resumee de la genealogie nietzscheenne du "Bien" et du "Mal" en soi. Je reviens par consequent sur la critique du platonisme et du christianisme que Nietzsche developpe a l'epoque de Par-dela bien et mal (1886) et de la Genealogie de la morale (1887), avec pour fil conducteur une question centrale : comment rendre compte d'une telle invention morale ?

This thesis sets out to provide an interdisciplinary study of four of the sixteen hexameter poems in Giovanni Boccaccio’s pastoral Buccolicum carmen (ca. 1362/63). It argues that the Buccolicum is a coherent book of poetry that displays an allegory of Boccaccio’s autofictional self, constructed through different bucolic characters and themes which symbolise different fragments of Boccaccio, as well as different steps in his literary and ethical ascent. Consequently, it intends to dispel the unhelpful dichotomy between autobiography and fiction which has dominated most commentaries and studies on the Buccolicum. It also investigates the place of the Buccolicum (Boccaccio’s only book of Latin poetry) in his literary career. Reflecting Boccaccio’s theoretical approach towards pagan literature, developed especially in the Genealogie deorum gentilium (ca. 1359–74), the Buccolicum engages with the classical tradition, and particularly with Virgil’s Eclogues, to support an autofictional narrative of conversion. In the wake of Petrarch’s own Bucolicum carmen, Boccaccio presents the pastoral world as the earthly world of temporary pleasures, sin and sorrow. In sum, the present study aims to provide a thorough examination of a selection of four of Boccaccio’s eclogues, each focusing on one key theme of the Buccolicum (love, politics, poetry, and religion). At the same time, this thesis scrutinizes the processes of reception, mediation and allusion to classical texts which shed light on Boccaccio’s bucolic autofiction, as well as on the classical texts themselves.