Event overview
Goldsmiths Literature Seminar
Loni Reynolds (University of Roehampton)
This paper investigates the themes of kenosis, silence, and language in J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey (1961). Kenosis is a theological term referring to the redemptive self-emptying of Christ during the crucifixion; the doctrine’s focus on negation is highly relevant during the post-war period, which was characterized by a loss of faith in unitary meaning and empirical knowledge. The pervasive sense of loss of certainty and power characteristic of the post-war period is also evident in a trend in post-war American literature—including Franny and Zooey—toward the privileging of silence or meaningless language over ordinary, meaningful language.
In Franny and Zooey, Franny undertakes a spiritual quest for “no-knowledge.” She suffers a spiritual malaise and rejects ordinary language and academic knowledge—which she views as corrupt—and gradually moves into a divine silence. The first section of the novel is marked by a clash between Lane’s academic knowledge and Franny’s obsessive recitation of the “meaningless” one-sentence Jesus prayer. Franny’s quest is eventually resolved through her understanding of Christ as the ‘Fat Lady,’ a kenotic embodiment of human suffering. After she apprehends Christ in this way, she experiences a moment of spiritual ecstasy, hearing in the dial tone of the telephone the healing silence of revelation through negation. The paper reveals the often overlooked influence of Christianity on Salinger’s work, as well as connecting the novel to wider religious and social trends.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jan 2014 | 6:30pm - 8:00pm |
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