A Southern Gothic Theology: Flannery O’Connor and Her Religious Conception of the Novel
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Mary Flannery O’Connor, often considered one of the greatest North American writers of the twentieth century, seems to have endorsed the existence of them “Catholic novel” as a special genre. This article explores O’Connor’s characterization of such a genre while also demonstrating its vagueness and limitations. Notwithstanding what I will argue is the impossibility of defining such a term, this article also suggests that O’Connor’s thought transcends the field of literature and demonstrates a distinctive and sophisticated “Southern Gothic” vision of the Christian faith and its theology. O’Connor’s worldview begins with a realism that calls into question the modern Cartesian self; a sacramental sensibility that impregnates imminent reality; and a vision of the grotesque that interacts with the divine mystery. She points out that Christian beliefs rely on narratives, not on abstract concepts, and she grounds her own narrative in the particular cultural historical context of the Southern United States, which waits with mysterious hope for the violent arrival of divine grace.
Flannery O’Connor, Catholic Novel, Southern Gothic Theology, Literature of the American SouthFlannery O’Connor, novela católica, teología gótica sureña, literatura sureña de Estados Unidos
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