Theology and Literature Pathway
Cambridge has a long tradition of fostering dialogue between literature and theology, ranging from the influence of figures such as T.S. Eliot, C.S. Lewis, George Steiner, Catherine Pickstock, and Rowan Williams, to awarding one of the UK’s oldest prizes for sacred poetry. Drawing on this heritage, we are now introducing a dedicated MPhil pathway in Theology and Literature. The pathway is jointly taught by senior members of the Divinity and English Faculties in Cambridge, and covers a wide array of theoretical, methodological, and critical approaches in this burgeoning field, with primary texts ranging from Patristic theology to contemporary fiction and poetry.
The pathway is primarily aimed at students with a background in either Theology and Religious Studies or in Literary Studies, who have a demonstrable research interest in one of these fields and wish to further develop their interdisciplinary focus.
A dedicated scholarship, the Bethune-Baker MPhil Studentship in Theology and Literature, is available for this pathway. For information see the Graduate Funding page.
Modules and Exercise
Students accepted for this pathway will take a dedicated Michaelmas term module on ‘Theological Literature and Literary Theology’. This module is jointly taught by Prof. Michael Hurley (Professor of Literature and Theology in the English Faculty) and Dr. Giles Waller (Senior Teaching Associate in Theology and Literature in the Divinity Faculty). It considers the theological-literary complexities of works by major theologians, and engages in theological readings of literary texts.
In Lent term, students are offered a choice of two modules. They can take a module on ‘Theology and Tragedy’, taught by Dr Waller, which examines philosophical and doctrinal questions in the work of major 20th-century theologians for whom tragedy shaped their understanding of Christian doctrine, before exploring theological questions in T.S. Eliot’s drama, and in Shakespearean tragedy and Romance. Students are also able to take the ‘Gesture, Perception, Event’ module that is run jointly between the Divinity Faculty and the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages.
Alongside these modules, for the exercise element of the MPhil, students may either take a language if relevant for their planned dissertation research; or do a dedicated methodological exercise. This latter, entitled ‘Literary ethics and the Song of Songs’ comprises a series of methodological seminars across Michaelmas and Lent terms which examine the question of different scriptural, literary, and theoretical modes reading with a focus on the interpretation of the Song of Songs. These will introduce students to a range of theological and theoretical approaches to a single scriptural text, tracing links across diverse interpretative frameworks and modes of scholarly enquiry. Students will examine the particular ethical challenges of reading Scriptural texts well, and will attend to surfaces, allegory, lyric, failure, alongside queer and Black readings of the text.
In addition to the Michaelmas and Lent term modules and seminars, a series of lectures will be offered by senior members of the Divinity and English Faculties across both terms, covering a range of theoretical and methodological issues, including: prosody and philosophy; sacrament, metaphor, and the senses; global poetics and theology; eco-critical literary theory and theology; ambiguity and apophasis; post-critical theory and method in theology; atonement in the 19th century novel.
Modules and topics may change from year to year. For more information, contact the pathway convenor, Dr Giles Waller.
| Theology Literature and Literary Theology | Theology and Tragedy | Gesture, Perception, Event | Literary ethics and Song of Songs Exercise |
Images: St Augustine reading the epistle of St Paul, Benozzo Gozzoli, Sant’Agostino Church, San Gimignano, 1464-65 (Left end)
File:Streptopelia turtur 1869.jpg - Wikimedia Commons; commons.wikimedia.org (Right end)
