Inside the church of Flannery O'Connor : an introduction / Jon Parrish Peede -- Real presence : Flannery O'Connor and the saints / W.A. Sessions -- The hylomorphic sacramentalism of "Parker's back" / Helen R. Andretta -- Flannery O'Connor and the displaced sacrament / John F. Desmond -- Beholding the handmaids : Catholic womanhood and "The comforts of home" / Robert Donahoo -- Flannery O'Connor and the cartoon catechism / Jill Pelaez Baumgaertner -- Partaking of the sacraments with Blake and O'Connor : a reading / Stephen C. Behrendt -- "The bottom rail is on the top" : race and "theological whiteness" in Flannery O'Connor's short fiction / Timothy P. Caron -- Christian but not Catholic : baptism in Flannery O'Connor's "The river" / Joanne Halleran McMullen -- The scandalous baptism of Harry Ashfield : Flannery O'Connor's "The river" / Ralph C. Wood -- Flannery O'Connor and the discernment of Catholic fiction / John R. May.
Summary:
Inside the Church of Flannery O'Connor offers significant new essays by leading scholars who have advanced the codification of O'Connor as a writer preoccupied with religious, and especially Catholic, themes. In counterbalance, the collection also presents voices of sharp dissent at odds with O'Connor's own interpretations and with much of the existing scholarship concerning her work. The promise of such a diverse collection rests in the dialogues between and among their essays. One will not find consensus within these pages, nor even a settled path for the future of O'Connor studies. Rather, the collection puts on record the state of affairs during this period of transition, when those scholars who knew O'Connor personally are declining in number and canonical authority, and those who know her as a field of study as opposed to a flesh-and-blood human being are in ascension. Both groups have much to learn from each other! (Publisher).
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.