Mysticism and the Mid-Century Novel [electronic resource] /
Clements, J.author.
This book argues that many of the mid-twentieth century's significant novelists were united by a desire to return the increasingly interior novel to ethical engagement. They did not seek morality in society, politics or the individual will, but sought to unveil a transcendent Good by using techniques drawn from the canon of mystical literature.
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction : the middle is everywhere -- Towards an ideal limit : linguistic authority in the work of Iris Murdoch -- From apophasis to aporia : William Golding and the indescribable -- Verbal sludge : the ethics of instability in Patrick White's prose -- Bliss from bricks : Saul Bellow's moral phenomenology -- Conclusion: drawing circles in the sea : un-defining the 'mystical novelist' -- Endnotes.
This book argues that many of the mid-twentieth century's significant novelists were united by a desire to return the increasingly interior novel to ethical engagement. They did not seek morality in society, politics or the individual will, but sought to unveil a transcendent Good by using techniques drawn from the canon of mystical literature.
Murdoch, Iris
Golding, William, 1911-1993
White, Patrick, 1912-1990
Bellow, Saul
Literature, Modern—20th century.
Literature—Philosophy.
Culture—Study and teaching.
Fiction.
British literature.
America—Literatures.
Twentieth-Century Literature.
Literary Theory.
Cultural Theory.
Fiction.
British and Irish Literature.
North American Literature.