Modes of Faith
Secular Surrogates for Lost Religious Belief
In the decades surrounding World War I, religious belief receded in the face of radical new ideas such as Marxism, modern science, Nietzschean philosophy, and critical theology. Modes of Faith addresses both this decline of religious belief and the new modes of secular faith that took religion’s place in the minds of many writers and poets.
Theodore Ziolkowski here examines the motives for this embrace of the secular, locating new modes of faith in art, escapist travel, socialism, politicized myth, and utopian visions. James Joyce, he reveals, turned to art as an escape while Hermann Hesse made a pilgrimage to India in search of enlightenment. Other writers, such as Roger Martin du Gard and Thomas Mann, sought temporary solace in communism or myth. And H. G. Wells, Ziolkowski argues, took refuge in utopian dreams projected in another dimension altogether.
Rooted in innovative and careful comparative reading of the work of writers from France, England, Germany, Italy, and Russia, Modes of Faith is a critical masterpiece by a distinguished literary scholar that offers an abundance of insight to anyone interested in the human compulsion to believe in forces that transcend the individual.
Choice Magazine: CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Awards
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“What followed Matthew Arnold’s ‘long departing roar’ of the sea of faith? What surrogates swirled in to fill the religious and cultural vacuum? Ziolkowski brilliantly charts the variety of ways European and American writers struggled to respond. His sure-footed command of an amazing range of literature and his winning eloquence invite the reader on a fascinating journey through a foundation-shaking spiritual transformation that is still going on.”—Harvey Cox, Harvard University
“A masterful analysis of the response of literary figures to the loss of religious faith in modernity. Equally impressive is the perceptive account of the connection between literature and religion. The chapter on renewals of spirituality should be required reading for any course on contemporary religion.”—Hans J. Hillerbrand, Duke University
“Modes of Faith is a brilliant and disturbing portrait of the power of literature to explore faith when traditional religious faith has begun to fail. Professor Ziolkowski’s book is a tribute to his mature scholarship, his penetrating insights, and his sensitivity to a twentieth century that could not do without its faith but despaired of the Christian consolations that it had inherited. It takes us back to great works of fiction with a renewed sense of their literary coherence, their vision, and their imaginative power.”—David Jasper, University of Glasgow
Part One: The Decline of Faith
1. Introduction
2. The Melancholy, Long, Withdrawing Roar
3. Theologians of the Profane
Part Two: New Modes of Faith
4. The Religion of Art
5. Pilgrimages to India
6. The God That Failed
7. The Hunger for Myth
8. The Longing for Utopia
Part Three: Conclusion
9. Renewals of Spirituality
Notes
Index
Literature and Literary Criticism: General Criticism and Critical Theory
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