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Biblical Sterne : rhetoric and religion in the shandyverse

Part of the New Directions in Religion and Literature series
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Is Laurence Sterne one of the great Christian apologists?

Ryan Stark recommends him as such, perhaps to the detriment of the parson’s roguish reputation.

The book’s aim, however, is not to dispel roguishness but rather to discern the theological motives behind Sterne’s comic rhetoric, from Tristram Shandy and the sermons to A Sentimental Journey.

To this end, Stark reveals a veritable avalanche of biblical themes and allusions to be found in Sterne, often and seemingly awkwardly in the middle of sex jokes, and yet the effect is not to produce irreverence.

On the contrary, we find an irreverently reverent apologetic, Stark argues, and a priest who knows how to play gracefully with religious ideas.

Through Sterne, in fact, we might rethink humour’s role in the service of religion.

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Product Details
Bloomsbury Academic
1350177784 / 9781350177789
Hardback
823.6
11/02/2021
United Kingdom
English
184 pages
22 cm