BOOK REPORT

Modern literature and post-modern theology

Ich denke, wir sollten Gott, auch das Wort Gott, eine Weile in Ruhe lassen1

The greatest mistake theologians can make when reading literature is to look for what they already know. As though theology has already named that which in liter- ature is still conveyed 'metaphorically'. As though literature merely embellishes the truth and packages in beauty that which theology states objectively. As though beauty and literature had no other value. Only when the theologian gives up hope of encountering in poetry the 'already named', the Schonbenannte, only then will s/he truly assimilate that which s/he reads (Solle speaks of "weltliche Realisation"), without stealing a march on the poet (Solle, 71). The topic of God and literature appears to be a popular one as we near the end of the twentieth century. In 1997 the 'Dutch Week of the Book' took 'My God' as its theme, and practically all Dutch authors responded. And, in Germany, several pub- lications have appeared concerning the relationship between theology and literature (Dorothee Solle), God and modem literature (Paul Konrad Kurz), and literature and angels (Herbert Vinqon).

1. Herbert Vinqon's Glauben Sie an Engel? is a collection of literary exerpts (poetic and epic) on angels, their existence and function. Despite the subtitle, Liter- arische Aussagen von Dante bis Nelly Sachs, which suggests a broad, international approach, the writings are mainly by German authors. Among the exceptions are a short story by Felix Timmermans, "Die Flucht nach Agypten" and another by Leo Tolstoy, "Das Gebet", which are also the two longest pieces at ten pages each. Apart from these the selected texts (most of them poetry and most by German writers, with an emphasis on the work of Nelly Sachs and Rainer Maria Rilke) are no longer than one or two pages. All of the poems and stories have to do with angels, albeit in some cases very indi- rectly. The editor provides no insight into his selection criteria. Nor does he give any information about the authors included or the reason for the book. That angels are 'big' (in literature, I dare say, but not in theology) proves, according to Vinqon, that 'many contemporaries have developed a sense of the loss of mystery and faith' (Vinqon, p. 148). He expresses the hope that his collection will help us to redis- cover and become aware of the presence of angels ( 151). The modest pretensions of this book are expressed in a quotation from Georges Bemanos : "The small commonplace things seem like nothing, but they are a source of peace. In each of them an angel is at work".

2. Far more pretentious, though written for a broad popular audience, is Gott in der modernen Literatur by Paul Konrad Kurz. Kurz describes the changing awareness of God, as it is expressed in the literature of the nineteenth and twentiet centuries. In the nineteenth century, the image of

79 God and the word 'God' disappear in the "Off" of the Enlightenment, as writers like Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Nietzsche set the intellectual tone. After the First World War, 'God' becomes lost behind communist ideals (Bertold Brecht), but after the Second World War 'God' makes a comeback as a Mitlduferwort, an easy metaphor. Kurz claims that in the contemporary period, only a small elite feels the mystical presence of the divine Spirit. Among his readers and among the authors he cites, Kurz goes in search of these happy few, these "mystically talented, mystically initiated" (Kurz, p. 53). In so doing he takes as his motto the famous words of Blaise Pascal, "Le coeur a sa raison, que la raison ne con- nait pas". In the course of six chapters, Kurz then looks at the garments ("Gewdnde") in which God has been clothed by modern literature. Under the headwords 'theodicy', 'Auschwitz' and 'Job', he discusses works of Georg Buchner, Samuel Beckett, Alfred D6blin, Joseph Roth and Elie Wiesel. Kurz concludes that the God of the post-Auschwitz era cannot be compared to the God of Job or the God of Golgotha. To call the Shoah "the Golgotha of this century" (Pope John Paul II) is to ignore the fact that, as Kurz says, Jesus' death is the highest source of meaning for Christians, while the mass murder of Jews represents the very absence of meaning (98). Under the heading of postmodern language games, Kurz discusses the work of Umberto Eco, Salman Rushdie, Friederich Durrenmatt and Franco Ferruci. Post- modernity is dismissed as nihilistic and "Spielerei" - playing games. Writing about The Satanic Verses, Kurz has the temerity to claim that Rushdie uses the message and the messengers of Islam disrespectfully 'as playthings for his fictional fantasy, for his ironic-satirical literary production' (126). The chapter entitled "Naive Gottunmittelbarkeit" looks at the work of Joseph Wittig, James Baldwin and John Updike. A unifying theme in these works is that bourgeois socialization leads to a loss of naivety which in turn leads to a crisis of faith. "Ent-Emotionalisierung ist Teil der Sozialisierung", states Kurz rather simplistically. The discussion of the work of poet-priests like Fridolin Stier, Ernesto Cardenal and Gottfriend Bachl reveals Kurz's existential interest. This is also true of the chapter "Der Wege-Gott". The authors considered here - Bernard Shaw, Chingiz Aitma- tov, Hermann Hesse and Peter Handke - send their characters in search of a God- who-goes-along. Kurz ends his literary tour with ten theses that serve as a conclusion. Here he emphasizes the difference between the God of theology and the God of literature. The latter is "kein entst6rter, kein st6rungsfreier Gott"; he is not subject to the "Harmoniezwangen des dogmatischen Gottes" (p. 240), but is rather a "Richtungs- gott, Beruhrungsgott, Fiihlgott", in short, a God of experience (p. 244). This con- sideration leads Kurz to a final thought about mysticism. He quotes Karl Rahner: "Der Fromme von Morgen wird ein 'Mystiker' sein, einer der etwas 'erfahren' hat" (p. 246). His applying of the quotation to writers and artists again illustrates the elitist nature of Kurz's thinking. A good Christian - so his starting point and so also his conclusion - is an informed and erudite Christian. Kurz's anti-communist and anti-postmodernist stance (directed against Brecht and Rushdie respectively) is indicative of his conservative and reactionary intent. His readings and interpretations are at times dangerous: what are we to think of a

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