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Abstract
The portrayal of disability within sacred and dramatic narratives offers an avenue for the examination of societal and theological paradigms. Such an examination is attempted in this study by investigating the representation of disability in the Bible and Ola Rotimi’s play Hopes of the Living Dead through the theoretical frameworks of Ableism and Reynolds’ hermeneutical approach. Biblical stories depicting disability as a curse, a tool, and a subject of divine healing are used in the research to explore the complex interplay between societal perceptions and theological implications. Rotimi’s dramatization of people with leprosy further elucidates themes of marginalisation and resilience within a predominantly secular context. Integrating Ableism theory, this paper critiques normative conceptions of ability and disability, while Reynolds’ hermeneutical methodology facilitates a nuanced interpretation of the often-conflicting representations found in both sacred texts and dramatic literature. This interdisciplinary approach yields comprehensive insights into the cultural, religious, and social constructs surrounding disability, advocating for more inclusive and empathetic interpretative practices.
Abstract
This article seeks to demonstrate the heretofore unnoted influence of Arthur Conan Doyle on the poetry of James Merrill, most notably in both Merrill’s famous lyric, “Lost in Translation,” and his epic trilogy, The Changing Light at Sandover. In particular, the article seeks to show how Merrill saw as proximal to each other what many Conan Doyle experts and Sherlockians have seen as befuddlingly exclusive: the skepticism of Sherlock Holmes and the spiritualism of his creator, Conan Doyle.
Abstract
This article explores how the womanist theology of M. Shawn Copeland illuminates the theological dimensions of Toni Morrison’s 1997 novel, Paradise. With reference to Copeland’s thought, I argue that Morrison re-imagines the crucifixion anew during the novel’s climax, in which five socially marginalized and racially diverse women are scapegoated and murdered by male leaders of the all-black town, Ruby. Drawing upon the thought of James Cone and observations by Morrison herself, I further describe these women’s murders as a kind of lynching. Morrison thus demonstrates how racism’s logic of domination becomes internalized and replicated by Ruby’s male-power structure. The lynching of the women thereby emerges as ironic, for the men’s intentions to create an all-black paradise unconsciously imitate the oppression and perverse theology of white supremacy. Morrison’s novel thus encourages readers to re-imagine the cross so as to reject exclusionary forms of Christianity.
Abstract
In his Death and Disaster series, Andy Warhol’s Byzantine Catholic upbringing and beliefs take shape in his portraits of celebrities and unnamed disaster victims alike. While previous scholarship on the series describes Warhol’s representation of death as consumerist, callous, and contributing to spectacle culture driven by mass media, my work instead focuses on Warhol’s adoption and transformation of the Byzantine iconic tradition. In choosing to appropriate tabloid images of otherwise anonymous fatalities in the Disaster series, Warhol dignifies disaster victims as the secular martyrs of a rapidly modernizing world, where we are often mere casualties sacrificed in the name of industrial progress. Through his utilization of Byzantine visual language, Warhol’s Death and Disaster works venerate victims of tragedy, moving them away from their former lives as tabloid spectacles and instead positioning them as secular icons of the twentieth century—their images memorialized as the saints and martyrs of our time.