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Literary Criticism Canadian

Landscapes of Encounter

The Portrayal of Catholicism in the Novels of Brian Moore

by (author) Liam Gearon

Publisher
University of Calgary Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2002
Category
Canadian
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781552383803
    Publish Date
    Sep 2002
    List Price
    $49.95

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Description

Brian Moore (1921-1999) is one of the few novelists whose literary portrayal of Catholicism effectively spans the period prior to and following the Second Vatican Council. His novels - from Judith Hearne (1955) to his final work, The Magician's Wife (1997) - are characterized by an enormously varied portrayal of pre- and post-Vatican II Catholicism.

Many critics have discussed how Moore's life is reflected in his works, while others have dismissed his fictions as simple narratives in the mould of classical realism. In this book, Gearon contends that Moore's fictions are far more complex, as he was one of the great observers of Catholicism in all its modern and historical controversy. Moore's writings thus portray a world where religion is in constant encounter, and often conflict, with alternative cultural, ideological, and theological worldviews.

Landscapes of Encounter provides the only full treatment of Moore's work as a literary convergence of the theological and the ideological, and specifically as a convergence of post-Vatican II and post-colonial perspectives.

About the author

Liam Gearon holds a University Lectureship in Religious Education at the Oxford University Department of Education and a Senior Research Fellowship at Harris Manchester College. He has published widely in the fields of religion and literature, including the critically acclaimed edited work, English Literature, Theology and the Curriculum.

Liam Gearon's profile page