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1 Diplomarbeit Titel der Diplomarbeit “David Lodge as a Catholic Novelist” Verfasserin Judith Terezija Pimperl angestrebter akademischer Grad Magistra der Philosophie (Mag.phil) Wien, im Oktober 2008 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 344 020 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: LA Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreuer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Rudolf Weiss 2 Thanks Be To God 1… …and Professor Weiss… …and My Family… …for their patience, forbearance and support. for Sarah and Sophie 1 1 Kor 15:57. 3 List of abbreviations AAS ………………………. Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vat II / Vatican II …………. Second Vatican Council HV ………………………… Humanae Vitae GS ………………………… Gaudium et Spes SC ………………………… Sacrosanctum Concilium CIC ……………………….. Codex Iuris Canonici, i.e. Code of Canon Law CCC ………………………. Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church DH ………………………… Dignitatis Humanae 4 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1 Catholic novelist? ............................................................................................................... 2 2 History .............................................................................................................................. 12 2.1 History of Catholicism in England ............................................................................ 12 2.1.1 Ultramontanism .................................................................................................. 21 2.2 From Dusk till Dawn – Developments in the Church ............................................... 23 2.2.1 Development in moral theology ......................................................................... 25 2.2.1.1 Birth control................................................................................................. 29 2.2.2 Developments in liturgy ..................................................................................... 39 3 Realism and Satire............................................................................................................ 43 3.1 Relationship between fiction and reality ................................................................... 43 3.1.1 Dialogism............................................................................................................ 49 3.2 Satire.......................................................................................................................... 55 3.3 The fun-factor - how not to take Catholicism and thus life too seriously ................. 60 4 Manifestation of Catholicism in the novels of David Lodge............................................ 69 4.1 Liturgy ....................................................................................................................... 70 4.2 The Bible ................................................................................................................... 76 4.3 Dogmatic theology .................................................................................................... 80 4.3.1 Dogma versus Conscience.................................................................................. 80 4.3.2 The Concept of Salvation ................................................................................... 83 4.3.3 Lodge’s answer: The Game of Salvation ........................................................... 86 4.3.4 Conversion.......................................................................................................... 93 4.4 Moral theology .......................................................................................................... 94 4.4.1 Sex ...................................................................................................................... 95 4.4.1.1 Premarital sex .............................................................................................. 97 4.4.1.2 Birth-Control – Between anticipation and shattered dreams..................... 101 4.4.1.3 Roma locuta, causa finita?......................................................................... 104 4.4.2 The marital bond............................................................................................... 107 4.4.2.1 Matrimonial situations............................................................................... 107 4.4.2.2 Adultery..................................................................................................... 109 4.4.3 Sexual aberrations............................................................................................. 110 4.4.3.1 Homosexuality........................................................................................... 110 4.4.3.2 Masturbation.............................................................................................. 112 4.5 Pastoral theology ..................................................................................................... 115 4.5.1 Your priest, spiritual guide or nurturer of your bad conscience? ..................... 115 4.6 Spirituality ............................................................................................................... 119 Conclusion......................................................................................................................... 127 Bibliography...................................................................................................................... 128 Index .................................................................................................................................. 136 Appendix I......................................................................................................................... 137 Appendix II........................................................................................................................ 138 1 Introduction It is the objective of this paper to identify Catholic allusions in the works of David Lodge and to investigate into the features of Catholicism they present. In a first step the paper discusses the categorisation of Lodge as a Catholic novelist. Then a historical frame of reference is established, together with an overview of the most important changes in the Catholic Church from the mid twentieth century to the years after the Second Vatican Council. This part of the paper also comments on the way these changes are reflected in the novels of Mr Lodge. As the works of Mr Lodge are readily identified as satirical novels, we next take a look at the relationship between satire and realism. The theory of dialogism, first established by Michail Bakhtin, is the starting point for this part of the paper. It shows how important the awareness of intertextual allusions is to the right understanding of a work of literature. The last part takes a look at the ways in which various theological fields are represented in the works of David Lodge. By following direct quotations and allusions it aims at explaining the various situations Catholics find themselves in and the ways in which they learn to live with the “Catholic difference.” This thesis is concerned with the following works of literature: The Picturegoers (1960), Ginger, You’re Barmy (1962), The British Museum is Falling Down (1965), Out of the Shelter (1970), How Far Can You Go? (1980), and Paradise News (1991); with an occasional glance at Therapy (1995) and Thinks... (2001) where it seemed appropriate. 2 1 Catholic novelist? “Oh, Michael! Just like a Graham Greene character.” (How Far , 41) The artist has his hands full and does his duty if he attends to his art. He can safely leave evangelizing to the evangelists. (O’Connor, 170) Test everything. Hold on to the good. (1 Thess 5:21) At the outset of this paper let me point out that the term “Catholic novelist” is not to be confused with the concept of the “religious novelist”. In the following I am solely concerned with the Catholicity of novels and do not ask whether a novelist can be considered religious, a question others have attempted to answer and have failed2. It is difficult enough to come up with a satisfying definition of the “Catholic novel”, as a brief glance at the respective literary theory shows. Bernd Engler poses the question which criteria qualify literature as Catholic, whether the affiliation of the author with the Church is sufficient or whether the Catholicism springs entirely from the text itself: Setzt ein katholischer Roman etwa die Vermittlung fiktionaler Wirklichkeiten durch eine als katholisch charakterisierte Erzählerfigur oder die Portraitierung katholischer Figuren voraus oder genügt als differenzierendes Merkmals bereits die Behandlung spezifischer Handlungsmuster und Themen, anhand derer eng mit dem Selbstverständnis der katholischen Kirche verknüpfte Problemstellungen aufgegriffen werden können? (Engler, 9) During the last centuries various, often unsatisfying answers have been given to this question. Daniel J. Tynan says that through baptism the perception of reality is permeated with the Catholic belief. He calls this fundamental if involuntary affection ‘cultural Catholicism’ and argues that a person baptised in the Catholic faith cannot write anything other than Catholic literature. Albert Sonnenfeld also names the membership in the Catholic Church as the first and most important criterion, in addition to the fact that the author is ‘using Catholicism as his informing mythopoeic (sic!) structure or generative symbolic system’ (Sonnenfeld, quoted in Engler, 10). The question remains whether a reduction of
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