Saying God with a straight face : towards an understanding of Christian soteriology in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest
department or school: Creative and Critical Studies, Faculty of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Laird, David Gordon
issued: 2016-08-18T18:15:06Z
issued: 2016
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This thesis considers the intersections between David Foster Wallace’s 1996 novel Infinite Jest and Pauline notions of Christian soteriology articulated in the New Testament. In my analysis, I argue that the novel presents a worldview that demonstrates a theological dialogue with biblical concepts of fallenness, human value, and redemption, most powerfully embodied in the main characters Hal Incandenza, Don Gately, and Mario Incandenza. Of the novel’s sweeping cast of characters, these three particularly capture a range of salvation states akin to a Pauline understanding of the human condition, calling to attention the influence of orthodox Christian theology on the novel. This dialogue is considered through the lens of postmodernism and the New Sincerity movement in contemporary U.S. fiction, and offers that the novel urges readers to countenance what it means to be human living amidst the binary tensions of sin and salvation, reinvigorating a traditional understanding of grace and redemption in a present and prophetic way.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/58894
note: “Saying God with a Straight Face”: Towards an Understanding of Christian Soteriology in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest by David Gordon Laird B.A., The University of British Columbia Okanagan, 2007 B.Ed, The University of British Columbia Okanagan, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (English) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUBMIA (Okanagan) August 2016 © David Laird, 2016 ii The undersigned certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: “Saying God with a Straight Face”: Towards an Understanding of Christian Soteriology in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest submitted by David Laird in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (English). Daniel Keyes, University of British Columbia (Okanagan) Co-supervisor, Professor Paul Milton, University of British Columbia (Okanagan) Co-supervisor, Professor George Grinnell, University of British Columbia (Okanagan) Supervisory Committee Member, Professor Jeff Severs, University of British Columbia (Vancouver) University Examiner, Professor 20 June 2016 (Date Submitted to Grad Studies) iii Abstract This thesis considers the intersections between David Foster Wallace’s 1996 novel Infinite Jest and Pauline notions of Christian soteriology articulated in the New Testament. In my analysis, I argue that the novel presents a worldview that demonstrates a theological dialogue with biblical concepts of fallenness, human value, and redemption, most powerfully embodied in the main characters Hal Incandenza, Don Gately, and Mario Incandenza. Of the novel’s sweeping cast of characters, these three particularly capture a range of salvation states akin to a Pauline understanding of the human condition, calling to attention the influence of orthodox Christian theology on the novel. This dialogue is considered through the lens of postmodernism and th…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2016-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0308653
language: eng
degree discipline: English
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/58894