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About This Book
This book argues that theology is central to an understanding of the literary ghost story.Victorian ghost stories have traditionally been read in the context of agnosticism â as stories which reveal a society struggling with Christian orthodoxy in a new 'Enlightened' world. This book, however, uses theological ideas from St Augustine through to modern theologians to identify a theological journey taken by the protagonists of such stories, and charts each stage of this journey through the short stories it examines. It also proposes a theory of reader participation which creates an imaginary space in which modern epistemology is suspended. The book studies the work of four major authors of the supernatural tale: Arthur Machen, M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu and Henry James.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Frontmatter
- 1. Introduction: Rethinking the Victorian Ghost Story
- 2. Haunted by the Ghost of GodâReading Theologically
- 3. âStrangely mistaking death for lifeâ: Arthur Machen
- 4. âWhat is this that I have done?â: M. R. James
- 5. âThese devils have made quite a saint of youâ: Sheridan Le Fanu
- 6. âHeâs there from the moment he knows somebody else isâ: Haunted by Paralysis in the Stories of Henry James
- 7. Conclusion: âThis supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be goodâ
- Backmatter