A jungle of shadows : interpenetrations of the anagogical and the grotesque in the short stories of Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor (1925-64) has become established in critical thought both as a "Christian" writer and a writer of the "grotesque". Indeed, to be true to the nature of her art, neither designation can be easily discarded. It is the premise of this study that O'Connor's mature, post-l 952 work, specifically her collected short fiction, draws on the modes of the anagogical and the grotesque to represent a vision highly conscious of both ultimate reality and the deficiency of a sinful, evil-inflicted world. These modes can be envisaged as antitheses: the anagogical, in its traditional medieval sense, implies a positive means to God via the created, sacramental world; the grotesque, conventionally and pessimistically perceived, infers a negative impetus towards the chaotic or demonic. In Chapter One, I investigate the conceptual parameters of the anagogical, beginning with a consideration of its medieval status as the hermeneutical level concerned with apocalyptic eventualities and disclosure of the divine presence. In my discussion of the anagogical operating through nature, art, individuals and everyday objects, I emphasise the Thomistic principle that the literal or material serves as a starting point for configuring anagogy. I argue that to address a modern audience unfamiliar with, or unsympathetic towards, traditional Christian imagery, O'Connor enlarged her view of the anagogical mode to incorporate elements of the grotesque. In Chapter Two, I explore the bounds of what constitutes the grotesque, drawing attention to its double-faced nature, to its inextricable merging of terror and comedy. Highlighting O'Connor's reliance at various points on both emphases of the grotesque, I examine the contrasting theories of Wolfgang Kayser and Mikhail Bakhtin. I discuss also the negative way of representation that the grotesque makes possible. The supposition of this strategy is that degradation or distortion of a phenomenon causes its meaningfulness to be communicated anew. It remains a point of debate as to whether desired interpretation can be achieved. O'Connor's mature work importantly conveys a paradoxical understanding of the grotesque as registering both depravity and renewal.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Irving, Catherine Janet Sarah

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Marx, Lesley

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18692

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/18692