Reading Group
Reading Re-Enchantment | Clare Chapel Reading Group
Description:
In 1851 the Victorian poet Matthew Arnold stood on the shore of Dover Beach. As the tide receded, the ‘tremulous cadence’ of the shingle struck a ‘note of sadness’. For Arnold, faith, like the sea, was withdrawing from him, and though he expresses melancholy at its loss, he does not see its recovery as possible.
Arnold’s poem expresses the sense that the modern era was one of progressive secularism, where religion would to recede and eventually disappear. Yet post-modernity realises that something else has happened: that there is not a single progressive history, but multiple narratives with competing legitimacies, and that among these faith has abided, often in new an unexpected forms.
If Arnold’s world seemed dis-enchanted, ours is one where re-enchantment seems a real possibility. Yet what does this mean? What forms does it take? Is it able to overcome the kind of secular asceticism Arnold felt he must adhere to? Are fantasy and imagination ways of overcoming the kind of alienation Arnold describes, and do they help us to make sense of our world in an honest way?
The reading group will explore these questions through short extracts from authors, philosophers, poets and theorists. Last term included readings from Weber, Vattimo, Genesis, Plato, Dante, Donne, Blake, Hölderlin, Crane and Borges. This term will include guest speakers who will introduce new texts for our consideration.
Details:
Participants: All university members are invited to participate. You need not be a specialist in any of the areas covered. Discussions will be informal and open.
Dates and time: 8:30-10 pm 25 January, 15 and 29 February, 14 March.
Location: Thirkill Room, Old Court, Clare. Wine, cheese and refreshments provided.
Readings: Often one or two poems. No more than twenty pages per meeting, distributed electronically to participants. It is requested all participants bring hard copies of the readings for the discussions.
Contact: Please contact Alexander Hampton with any questions and for the readings, ajbh2@cam.ac.uk