Original Research

The end of literature: Reflections on literature and ethics

Clarence Walhout
Koers - Bulletin for Christian Scholarship/Bulletin vir Christelike Wetenskap | Vol 61, No 1 | a583 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koers.v61i1.583 | © 1996 Clarence Walhout | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 11 January 1996 | Published: 11 January 1996

About the author(s)

Clarence Walhout, Guest Professor Department of English (1995) Potchefstroom University for CHE POTCHEFSTROOM Full-time professor in Department of English, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, USA.

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Abstract

Metaphysical scepticism and historical consciousness have sharpened our awareness of the limitations of language and rational discourse. This emphasis in critical theory offers a challenge to the Christian literary critic. Reflection on the nature and importance of teleology provides a way of refocusing criticism on the centrality of ethics rather than on truth claims in the study of literature. Using Ricoeur as a counter to the scepticism of Derrida, Christian literary theory can find a way to situate itse lf in the postmodern world. By understanding teleology in the context of narrative theory, as opposed to the contexts of eschatology and utopia, Christian theory can find a way of recovering the place of religion and ethics in literary criticism.

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