Conference Contribution Details
Mandatory Fields
Peter Admirand
Atheist-Theist Dialogue in Novels as a Guide to Contemporary Atheist-Theist Dialogue
17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) “Religion Continuations and Disruptions”
Tartu, Estonia
Oral Presentation
2019
()
Optional Fields
25-JUN-19
29-JUN-19
In the study of interfaith or interreligious dialogue, we speak of various kinds of dialogues: the dialogue of life, the intra or interfaith dialogues (ecumenical dialogues); academic dialogues, intermonastic dialogues, elite/institutional interfaith dialogue, and so on. This paper is focused on moments of private discussion, dialogue between two characters in novels, one identifying as theist and one atheist. I’ll first provide a very brief historical context of when each novel was written and the time and place the covered scenes are supposed to happen. At times, I’ll connect to recent or contemporary debates in interfaith dialogue and close on some lessons to glean from these fictional dialogues for our generally more flesh-and-blood world. Here I will focus on just three examples from well-known works of fiction, Les Misérables, The Brothers Karamazov, and The Plague.
Autumn 2018 Faculty Conference Travel Scheme