Religious approaches to literature have been dominated by apologetics and by the confessional tendencies advocated by T.S. Eliot. An atheist, therefore, still sticks out like a sore thumb at the CCL (Conference on Christianity and Literature), and the majority of publications in journals such as Literature and Theology and Religion and Literature are cast in a traditionalist, pietistic mold. Critics who examine the heretical, blasphemous, or atheistic implications of literary texts—without using such analyses to advance a conformist religious agenda—tend to be relegated to the margins.
It is time to give those who specialize in nonconformist or even anti-religious aspects of literature a “home,” i.e. a society, a peer-reviewed journal, and regular conferences. To this end, we propose to found the Society for Heresy Studies.
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James Wood
James Wood