Divinity, Hospitality and the Posthuman in 21st-Century Literature

Emily McAvan is a Teaching Associate, Monash University, Australia, and a specialist in the study of religion and literature. Her most recent work Jeanette Winterson and Religion (Bloomsbury, 2020) is the first study of the sacred and profane in Winterson’s work. Her articles on religion and literature have been published by Literature and Theology, among many others.

• IntroductionChapter 1. Introduction to 21st Century Postsecular Fiction Section One – God and the PostsecularChapter 2. Strout and the Idea of GodChapter 3. Robinson and Immanent FaithChapter 4. Chabon and the Messianic after the Death of GodSection Two – Hospitality and the PostsecularChapter 4. Rushdie and Religious TerrorChapter 5. Hamid and Interreligious HospitalityChapter 6. Jacobson and Antisemitism in the Multicultural StateSection Three – The Postsecular and the Non-HumanChapter 7. DeLillo’s Posthuman FaithChapter 8. Atwood’s Ecotheology ConclusionBibliographyIndex

McAven’s stunning readings of the “material sacred” within contemporary novels reveals 21st-century-fiction’s preoccupation with a world imbued with divine resonance. Postsecular Fiction importantly expands our understanding of vital issues such as forgiveness, disbelief, hospitality, and trauma as it unearths these novelists’ explorations of humanity’s vital relationship with the world.