Sacramental Tension: Transcendence and Finite Images in Simone Weil’s Literary Imagination

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

1996

Author

Werge, Thomas

Editor

Dunaway, John M. Springsted, Eric O.

Book

The Beauty That Saves: Essays on Aesthetics and Language in Simone Weil

Pages

85-97

Publisher

Mercer University Press

Place Published

Macon, Georgia

Language

English

Keywords

attention
dualism
Gnosticism
literature

Annotation

Werge begins by presenting some of the criticisms Weil’s religious expression has received. He then goes on to look at Weil’s "literary style as it expresses her religious imagination' (p. 87). Ultimately he argues, if we consider Weil's "use of particular images in more abstract and universal contexts -- and her idea of attente as the key to the soul’s pilgrimage of waiting we may be able to locate Weil's literary imagination in a kind of "sacramental tension"" (p. 87). She is, he argues, neither a gnostic nor a Jansenist. Werge goes on to discuss Albert Camus' and T.S. Eliot’s appreciation of Weil's work and despite their radical differences their shared view of the morality of literature. Werge then discusses Weil's literary vision or style and the theology expressed by it at some length relating her work to that of many diverse philosophers and theologians.

Notes

Significant content is available through Google Books - http://books.google.com.br/books?id=7R8K4gIqBEIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+beauty+that+saves&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false