Mormonism, Empathy, and Aesthetics

Beholding the Body
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-3-030-93293-0
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 216 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 418 g

This book analyzes the role that the physical body plays in foundational Mormon doctrine, and claims that such an analysis reveals a model of empathy that has significant implications for the field of Mormon aesthetics. This volume achieves three main goals: It elucidates the Mormonism's relationship with the body, it illuminates Mormonism’s traditional approaches to understanding and appreciating art, and it suggests that the body as Mormonism conceives of it allows for the employment of an aesthetic framework rooted in bodily empathy rather than traditional Christian or Mormon moral values per se. In support of this argument, several chapters of the book apply Mormonism’s theology of the body to paintings and poems by contemporary Mormon artists and writers. An examination of those works reveals that the seeds of a new Mormon aesthetic are germinating, but have yet to significantly shift traditional Mormon thought regarding the role and function of art.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ettari, Gary

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ästhetik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1 (Introduction): The Empathetic Body: Mormonism and Aesthetics.- Chapter 2: Embodied Deity and Deified Bodies.- Chapter 3: Aesthetics and Morality in Mormon Thought.- Chapter 4: Bodies in Verse.- Chapter 5: The Painted Body. Chapter 6. Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Gary Ettari is Associate Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has published on such varied topics as the role of the reader in Edmund Spenser’s sonnets, the commodification of the body in Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike, and Mormon aesthetics.