The three authors under consideration offer valuable insights into the universal nature, conception, and manifestation of Christian humanism as a socio-theological concept valid—and it will be argued, preferred—in any and every epoch, including these post-modern times. Because an important objective of this dissertation will be to demonstrate the manner in which each make significant use of the grotesque in their literature toward a recovery of a theologically Christian view of the human being (i.e., an incorporeal soul and human flourishing), it is hoped this dissertation will make a valuable scholarly contribution toward defining some standard by which to measure the fall of Western civilization from a previously higher state of existence.
The bulk of the dissertation will focus on each of the writer’s fictional works, though considerable attention will be given to their letters and their more important philosophical and theological treatises as well. At this point in the research, it would be futile to list all the resources on which preliminary works suggests this dissertation will ultimately rely. However, it does seem accurate at this point to suggest the first couple of chapters will likely require a sizable amount of attention be given to developing the salient ideas and foundational concepts relating to its goals, as they are fairly complex and somewhat obscure. The following, then, is a brief outline of how I anticipate the research will be organized.
Chapter one will develop a historical treatment of the human being for the distinct purpose of establishing an intelligible understanding of the philosophical and theological conversation about its nature. For example, does the human being have an incorporeal soul or is the concept rooted in a corporeal organ, the brain—and how do these views inform or influence human flourishing? It will be necessary to focus specifically on competing visions and developments in understandings of the soul expressed at various times of history to demonstrate how the argument culminated in the epoch of the authors under consideration.
Chapter two will treat the development of Christian Humanism from the Incarnation of Christ to the twentieth century, focusing heavily on the height of its emergence during the Renaissance and Reformation periods where its influence most impacted European culture. This chapter will conclude with an analysis of its final expression in the twentieth century to demonstrate the manner in which the authors under consideration would have viewed their literary projects as Christian writers writing to a modern culture whose view of the human soul was strictly corporeal rather than incorporeal.
Chapter Three will treat the history of the use of the grotesque in literature from its growth out of gothic literature like Horace Walpole’s novel Castle of Oronto, written in 1765 to Edgar Allan Poe and William Faulkner in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The goal here will be to demonstrate the essence and characteristics of the literary device and the ways it was understood by the three authors under consideration.
Chapter Four will analyze the three Christian Humanists’ shared vision for using the grotesque as a means of recovering a Christian imagination for the human being and for human flourishing in the modern world.
Finally, the fifth through seventh chapters will consider the three authors’ use of the three categories of the grotesque, or “non-things” identified in the works of Susan Stewart and Geoffrey Harpham as the anomalous, the ambiguous, and the ambivalent.
In the treatment of O’Connor, I intend to ground my research in her two novels: Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away, but I will also give attention to some her short stories, including “The River,” “Revelation,” and “Good Country People.” I will also depend on much of O’Connor’s nonfiction, including, Mystery and Manners and The Habit of Being.
In the treatment of Lewis, I intend to ground the work primarily on The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Till We Have Faces, and The Space Trilogy, with particular emphasis on Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. It is in these stories where Lewis’s fiends are most prominent and he works out his vision for the soul and human flourishing using the grotesque. I will also give some attention to his essays, primarily those like A Preface To Paradise Lost, where he discusses the grotesque, namely his understanding of the demonic and how it should be represented in literature.
Finally, in the treatment of Tolkien, I will rely heavily on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, and likely the newest publication, The Fall of Gondolin. In these works, Tolkien works out his vision for the grotesque in fantasy through a variety of his characters, including Ungloint, Morgoth/Melko/Melkor, Shelob, Gollum, the Orks, the Nazgul, and Sauron. Some significant treatment will further be made of Tolkien’s work, On Faerie Stories, which will be a staple in developing the Christian Humanist use of the grotesque toward moral recovery through the use of fantasy. Finally, it is expected that Tolkien’s essay/lecture Monsters and Critics will be of great import in exploring the Christian Humanist use of the grotesque in literature.
As is often the case given the nature of research, the immanent shape of the dissertation will undoubtedly evolve with the manifestations of unforseen insights revealed through related research and unexpected conclusions drawn from the same. But in any case, the labor will provide a delightful education in and of itself whatever is learned.