THEO3781: Theology through Literature, Music, and the Arts

• Preliminary knowledge of Christian theology, and an informed interest in literature and the arts.

• None

• None

• To understand the role of the arts (particularly the literary arts) in the development of theological ideas.
• To develop close reading skills.
• To understand the interaction between Christian theology and some areas of literary theory and musicology.

• This module will examine the relationship between form and content in the creation of theological meaning, located specifically in Christian theology. It will refer to work across the arts, including visual arts, film, song and hymnology focusing principally on literary forms. A close reading of texts including confession, first-person account, epistle, diary, journal, memoir, song, hymn, poem, and new media, will show that by subverting accepted theological forms, or by creating new forms out of circumstantial necessity or opportunity, theological meaning is not merely conveyed by the literary forms in which it is written, but is in part created by them.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Familiarity with a range of works in different forms will enable the reader both to expand their grasp of layers of meaning in theological texts, and to make a theological reading of texts not usually included in the theological canon.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Ability to identify and discuss texts in terms of genre, voice, orality.

Key Skills:

• Understanding a range of works in different forms.
• Understanding of meaning in theological texts.

• Lectures will examine specific texts in relationship to their literary form, the exploration of key theological themes in interrelated art forms, and reading and interpretation methods.
• Seminars will include student presentations (which count as summative work), and will allow for a range of readings of any given text to be explored.
• The lecture and seminar will be given in a two hour block every week.
• Final assignment is a choice between an essay or a piece of composition and an accompanying essay to assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding.

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