CFP: “Literature and the Problem of Evil”, 56 (1/2020)
Editors: Fiona Ellis (University of Roehampton, London), Marek Drwięga (Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland), Adriana Warmbier (Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland). Submission deadline: August 31, 2019.
The problem of evil in itsclassical form refers to the question whether one may reconcile the existence of evil with the existence of Godwhois a perfectly benevolent omnipotent being. In The City of God, St.Augustineconfronts a central problem: How did evil come into the world if human beings were created good? A wide range of responses to this question has been given not only in philosophy and theology but also in literature and film. ‘Literatureis not innocent’ stated Georges Bataille persuading that only by acknowledging its complicity with the knowledge of evil can literature communicate fully and intensely. Literature affords various accounts of manifestation of evil (its nature, origins andcon sequences in human life). Numerous writers have delved deeply into the psychological and metaphysical dimensions of evil, among them thereis a Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. Not onlyhas he provided a detailed insight as to how is psychology tied to the metaphysical aspect of human existence, but also he addressed the question of whether crime and transgression can be a privileged avenue of access into the human interior. The earliest accounts of evil in texts including the Bible and Greek myth and in philosophy (Plato, Plotinus, St. Augustine, G.W. Leibniz, I. Kant, F. Nietzsche, H. Arendt) have been related to themajor attempts to square God’s justice with the presence of evil.
We would like to explore the intersections between literary modes of representations of evil and philosophical thought. Thus we invite authors to contribute to the current reflections on the problem of evil in literature. A critical lookat the classical or recentl iterary manifestation of this issue will be most appreciated.
Submission deadline: August 31, 2019.