David Jones and the Craft of Theology: Becoming Beauty (T&T Clark Studies in English Theology)

This is an imaginative exploration of the art of David Jones which addresses Christian teaching through engagement with selected artistic works: a poem, a painted inscription and a wood engraving. Elizabeth R. Powell’s study does not just enable readers to understand Jones but also to use his kind of loving attention in their own lives – which, Jones would argue, is theology’s most important task. Through close readings of material objects, Powell draws the reader into the participatory, performative and dialogical possibilities of the craft of theology. She frames an older style of theology in a distinctive and modern way, as a graced human practice and a place of transforming relation with the divine. Powell argues that Jones’s art works offer places of beauty in which to ‘become beauty’ along the way. Located at the cross-section of theology, literature and the arts, this volume shows that being interdisciplinary is nothing less than finding ways for theology and humanity to be more richly itself. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Dedication Contents Figures Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: The art of David Jones and the craft of theology The craft of theology The art of David Jones: Three artefacts 1 The quest for sacrament: ‘A, a, a, DOMINE DEUS’ poem Introduction: ‘Asking the question’ and the myth of Peredur Asking the question of ‘A, a, a, DOMINE DEUS’ The art of writing in the age of mechanical reproduction Performing the quest of ‘A, a, a, DOMINE DEUS’ From fragment to flow The form of the cross Conclusion: Wounds that bless and defeats that revive 2 The art of the incarnate word: ‘Quia per Incarnati’ painted inscription Introduction: Epiphany ‘A living lettering’: Painted inscriptions and the art of the incarnate word Journeying through the inscription of the preface to the Christmas Mass Claritas, Caritas and the analogy of the Verbum Cordis Conclusion: Poiesis as christological participation 3 ‘The Vessel of the Ecclesia’: ‘Bride’ wood engraving Introduction: Wedding guests Following the furrowed line: The craft of wood engraving ‘A flowery, starry, intertwined image’: The liturgical character of Bride The figures of Bride ‘Lumen de lumine ...’ The feminine tutelar The hart’s desire Conclusion: ‘Magdalenian splendours’ Conclusion Bibliography Index "Elizabeth R Powell offers an imaginative exploration of the art of David Jones while also addressing Christian teaching anew, through engagement with selected artistic works: a poem, a painted inscription, and a wood engraving. Powell's study helps readers not merely to understand Jones but to carry out this kind of loving attention themselves-arguably what Jones considered to be theology's most important task. Through close readings of these material objects, Powell draws the reader into the participatory, performative and dialogical possibilities of the craft of theology. Harking back to an older style of theology framed in a distinctive and modern way, as a graced human practice, and a place of transforming relation with the divine; she argues that Jones's art works offer places of beauty in which to 'become beauty' along the way. Located at the cross-section of theology, literature and the arts, this volume shows how an interdisciplinary position is nothing other than finding ways for theology and humanity to be more richly itself"-- Provided by publisher