Eagleton Giro

MIRACLES AND REVOLUTIONARY REVERSALS: TERRY EAGLETON'S THEOLOGICAL TURN
Author(s): Geng Youzhuang

Source: Literature and Theology, Vol. 26, No. 3, 25th Anniversary Special Issue (September
2012), pp. 323-337
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23927510
Accessed: 26-02-2020 23:47 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to Literature and Theology
This content downloaded from 152.170.198.177 on Wed, 26 Feb 2020 23:47:59 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Literature & Theology, Vol. 26. No. 3, September 2012, pp. 323-337
doi.10.1093/litthe/frs027 Advance Access publication 23 July 2012
MIRACLES AND
REVOLUTIONARY REVERSALS:
TERRY EAGLETON'S
THEOLOGICAL TURN
Geng Youzhuang*
Abstract
This essay explores the 'theological turn' of Terry Eagleton within the con
text of China and the Chinese academia. Eagleton has long been thought of
as one of the representatives of Western Marxism in China. And though he is
often seen as an advocate of so-called postmodernism by some Chinese
scholars, his stance as a Marxist has never been questioned. In fact, it is
precisely because of this double role that Eagleton has become such a popular
contemporary Western thinker, his influence in China going well beyond
the imagination of Western scholars. But most studies on Eagleton by
Chinese academics focus on his ideas in relation to Marxism, such as the
theory of literature production. This discussion undertakes a more compre
hensive study on Eagleton's thoughts, focusing in particular on the connec
tion between his early studies on theology and the theological turn of his
later work, within a context where the relationship between Marxism and
theology increasingly attracts the interests and the attention of Chinese
scholars.
The terms in the title, 'miracle', 'revolutionary reversal' and 'theological tum',
are all Terry Eagleton's own words. The expression that is most disputable,
that of 'theological tum', is taken from the preface of Eagleton's own book
Holy Terror (2005): 'This book is not intended as an addition to the mounting
pile of political studies of terrorism. Instead, it tries to set the idea of terror in
what I hope is a rather more original context, one which might loosely be
termed "metaphysical". As such, it belongs to the metaphysical or theological
tum (or full circle) which my work seems to have taken in recent years, one
welcomed by some but looked upon with alarm or exasperation by others.'1
'School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University of China, 59 Zhongguancun Street, Beijing

100872, China
Email: geng802@yahoo.com.cn
Literature & Theology © The Author

Author 2012.
2012. Published by Oxford University Press 2012; all rights reserved.
For Permissions, please email: joumals.permissions@oup.com
324 GENG YOUZHUANG
This proves clearly that Eagleton himself is

and the different and even contradictory
Eagleton's tum has attracted little attent
but I believe that the responses would be d
exasperation' than 'welcomed'. This is mai
thought of as one of the representatives
matter of fact, the first book by Eaglet
lished in China is Marxism and Literary Crit
after its publication, Literary Theory: A
Chinese, with several Chinese versions so
received a university education after
included, came to know Western literary
this book as well as Fredric Jameson's Postm
though Eagleton is sometimes seen a
modernism by some Chinese scholars,
been questioned. Actually, it is precisely
Eagleton has become a very popular cont
fluence in China going well beyond the im
can be seen through the following facts:
least thirteen of Eagleton's books have be
lished in the country, about six monograp
lished by Chinese scholars, and numerous
have been written by Chinese postgrad
Eagleton in Chinese academia focus on hi
Marxism, such as the theory of literature
prehensive study on Eagleton's thoughts i
taken with this paper being just a part of th
will focus on the connection between his
theological turn of his later work.
Moreover, it is a right time to explore
logical turn, and this is particularly true wit
understood, religious studies and theolog
institutions in the past decade or so as p
increasingly clichéd in Chinese academia
beginning soon after Fredric Jameson bro
influential 1985 lectures at Peking Univer
'postmodernism' is no longer a theoretical
that the term has been too much used or
changes in theory, art and social life experie
time, religious studies and theological
through which people are trying to find
problems emerging in the changing s
MIRACLES AND REVOLUTIONARY REVERSALS 325
relationship between Marxism and theology has increasingly att

interests and the attention of Chinese scholars. For instance, a r
of the Journal for the Study of Christian Culture (No. 24, fall 2011), ed
author of this paper, has 'Western Marxism and Theology' as th
Eagleton's theological turn, therefore, can certainly provide som
theoretical insights for Chinese academia.
However, those who have been paying close attention to his rec
in China, and even in the West, are still unsure of the existence
'tum', let alone, and this might be more astounding, the existenc
circle' in his thoughts. Actually, 'full circle' is probably a more proper
describe Eagleton's thinking and writing on theological problem
years. Therefore, this 'new' tendency of his thought is not so new, an
be seen from the Foreword of The Body as Language: Outline of a
Theology (1970). A paragraph in this work, published 35 years b
Terror, in which his concern in the 1960s is explicitly stated, is n
'This book has grown out of work which I have done over the past
for Slant, the journal of the catholic left. It covers a number of
eucharist, fallenness, the real presence, death, priesthood, the "sa
tries to organize them around a central thesis intended to revea
relations and divergences between Christianity and marxism.'3 I
first book written by Eagleton was entitled The New Left Chur
from which it can be deduced, even prior to reading the text, t
demic career began with his concern for Christian theology. Of c
1970, he turned to literary theory and cultural study and, particu
the great success and the universal influence enjoyed by his Literary
Introduction, Eagleton won his reputation as a (Western Marxist) liter
As a result, Eagleton's early theological works are not only out of
also, perhaps, forgotten.4 With an acknowledgement of this con
might not be so surprised at Eagleton's theological 'tum' or 'full c
Currently Eagleton's theological 'turn' or 'full circle' begins to at
and more attention and serious investigation. For instance, the editor'
to The Eagleton Reader starts with talking about Eagleton's essay '
Benediction' in the journal Slant and mentions the relation betwe
and the New Left Church in Eagleton's early research. The editor
the importance of this essay in Slant is that it shows that Eagleto
a pure scholar of 'English literature', and that politics and culture
his focus.5 However, the editor is not aware of the relationship
Eagleton's early theological research and his late theoretical thin
none of the essays in this book touch upon this. The author
Eagleton: A Critical Introduction, James Smith, clearly realizes the im
of the tum or full circle in Eagleton's academic career. This book
six chapters: the subtitle of the first chapter is 'Eagleton and the Cath
326 GENG YOUZHUANG
while that of the last chapter is 'The Ful

arrangement of the chapters that Smith
theological problems in Eagleton's though
the link between his early and late think
Criticism of Heaven: On Marxism and The
inely profound exploration of this. In thi
the author elaborates the relation between Western Marxism and Christian
theology very thoroughly, and one chapter is specifically devoted to discussing

Eagleton's theological thinking. But it is a pity that at the time when this work
was written and published, Eagleton's very recent works, such as Trouble With
Strangers: A Study of Ethics (2008), Reason, Faith, & Revolution: Reflections on the
God Debate (2009), On Evil (2010) had not appeared, for Eagleton's theological
tum or full circle is shown and explicated more clearly in these later works.
Thus, this paper, on the basis of the available research, seeks to make a further
study of Eagleton's theological tum or full circle, and to clarify some key
notions that permeate both his early and late theological discussions.
Let us begin with The New Left Church and The Body as Language: Outline of
a 'New Left' Theology. Actually, even in the 1960s, these two books could
hardly be called theological works because Eagleton's discussion of theological
issues always involves literary and political problems. In fact, even the works
after his theological tum share this same feature, and although this is regarded
as an issue of writing style by Boer, perhaps there is more to it than that.
A little knowledge of it would lead us not to be surprised at how Eagleton
in The New Left Church moves through Wittgenstein's philosophy of language
to Marx's theory of currency, and then on to the Christian Eucharist and the
nature of Christian acts and Christian society, especially in their revolutionary
significance. Compared with that of The New Left Church, the argument of The
Body as Language: Outline of a 'New Left' Theology is both more concentrated
and more profound. Thus it might be taken as the representative work in
Eagleton's early theological thinking. In The Body as Language, 'body', espe
cially the body of Jesus, is a theme throughout the whole book. At the end of
the first chapter titled 'body and language', the author claims that 'The strug
gle to transcend an era of destructive and illusory 'freedom' for the achieve
ment of genuine communal liberation lies at the core of both Christian and
Marxist belief. Unlike the Marxist, however, the Christian recognizes the risen
Christ as ground of this historical movement. He believes this because Christ,
uniquely, is both a body and a language... In him, we can achieve at the level
of physical union a fully human, expressive and universal communication; in
him, language and bodiliness finally converge into a single life.' 7 To support
this argument Eagleton refers to English literature from Shakespeare to Hardy,
McLuhan's media theory, the ideographic system of Chinese characters and
Ezra Pound's poetics, Roland Barthes' writing degree zero, Mallarmé's
symbolist poetry, Marx's theory of production, German Romantic

language, Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and finally the theolo
tures ofjesus' body with respect to the Eucharist. We can see that Eag
a persistent and intense interest in the question of the body, the bod
on the cross, the body in the Eucharist, or the body as the other
intermediary of communication, and this interest persists in his
thinking.
Boer claims that, much to his surprise, 'nearly all of his fEagleton's] theo
logical reflections wind towards Christology.' Boer generalises this in the term
'radical Christology',8 and this has some sense in it. However, there is an
important topic that is related to Jesus in Eagleton's theological writings,
and this is the notion of anaunm in the biblical sense. In that early work,
there is a long paragraph concerned with 'the poor':
For the Christian, the presence of the sacred in the world takes two major forms:
Christ is present in that articulated structure of signs which we call the church; he
is also present, more fundamentally, in the oppressed and exploited. Those
men—the anawim of the old testament whom Christ speaks of in the beatitudes—
are the 'dirt' which falls outside the carefully wrought political structures of
society, those whom society cannot accommodate; as such, they stand as a living
challenge to its institutions, a potent and sacred revolutionary force. They
represent, simply by what they are, the dialectical contradiction at the heart of a
social order; they are the articulate signs of its failure, of the shapeless,
unstructured life in its margins and crevices with which the order cannot deal
without destroying itself. The anawim are the embodied negativity of each status
quo, and as such focus its braking-point; they are thus, themselves, a kind of
contradiction: an expressive sign of human failure and limitation which yet, by
pinpointing so exactly the limits of a social order, the points where it tails off into
chaos, offers a positive symbol of the future.9
It is not difficult to find that in his early works 'option for the poor' has
already become a key issue in his theological thinking. After his tum in 2000,
this theme re-emerges and is deepened, and it relates to his exploration of
tragedy, impasse, miracles and revolutionary reversal. After his involvement in
the activities of the New Left Church, and writing a great deal with respect to
theological problems, Eagleton as a theologian disappeared for almost 30 years.
He did not return to his early theological arguments until 2000. Many people
believe that this tum first showed itself in his autobiographical The Gatekeeper:
A Memoir (2000) in which he repeatedly mentions the influence of
Catholicism on him. There are two noteworthy points: firstly, Eagleton
points out clearly, 'Catholicism was a world which combined rigorous
thought with sensuous symbolism, the analytic with the aesthetic, so it was
probably no accident that I was later to become a literary theorist.'10;
328 GENG YOUZHUANG
secondly, he claims: 'One can move fairly

Marxism without having to pass throug
understand these two important argume
Eagleton's personal spiritual world, and t
aware of the content and style of his wo
According to James Smith, the most impo
for its publication shows 'that the modes of
the wave of progressive thinkers through
addressing an urgent, post-millennial po
cepts must be employed by the Left in ord
new circumstances'.12 Indeed, it was abo
Eagleton found his way back to the trad
attempt to search for a new theoretical
theological topics of his earlier works. For
and ethics Eagleton finds a correlation b
Marxist Socialism. He argues, specifically
considers Aristotle's 'happy life of virtue
implies a mutual self-realization among h
form of this ethics is known as socialism
velopment of each is the condition fo
Furthermore, the issue of the body is parti
is concerned. Eagleton suggests that it is
body that one can speak about the quest
through the body that we can relate to
palpable sign we have of the givenness of
of being present to others, in ways which
the impersonality of the body is related to
in the discussion of liberation and revolu
biblical sense reappears. Eagleton asserts
called anawim in the Old Testament, are
failure of the present, and that Jesus hi
anawim by the writers of the New Testame
the world, who constitute the power of
revolution. In my opinion, however, Aft
with something theoretically new as a no
and a sense of anger.
In the same year Eagleton published anoth
Violence: The Idea of the Tragic. In Rolan
dicates the re-emergence of Eagleton as a
It is in that book that his earlier theologica
introduction, after an intense critique of r
are also theological ideas which can be pol
among other things an exploration of them'.17 Therefore, in the first ch

a Christian idea of tragedy is developed in which the history of the
tragedy is explored. Eagleton writes: 'In the sixth century an appare
centric meaning of the word "tragedy" springs up with Boethius, wh
in the context of Christ's Incarnation to denote a kind of fall or come-down.
He speaks of Christ's assuming flesh as "a tremendous tragedy", no doubt in
the Pauline sense of a kenosis or self-emptying rather than any sort of disaster.
Boethius's quaint use of the word is true to the classical theological view that
the Incarnation involves a loss or self-estrangement on God's part as well as a
fullness of presence.'18 For the theory of tragedy and theological thinking this
is indeed a quaint interpretation. Perhaps the title of a recent book by Slovaj
Zizek and John Milbank entitled The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialectic?
can to some extent offer an explanation.19
More importantly, Eagleton finds in the passion of Jesus a possible revolu
tionary reversal initiated by suffering, violence and death. The main discussion
of this problem can be found in the second chapter, 'The Value of Agony'.
Eagleton indicates that it is not as though people would like to think that Jesus
accepted his death happily and with a firm faith. On the contrary, at the
moment of crucifixion, 'Jesus plainly does not welcome his own impending
torture and death, even though he seems impelled by an obscure conviction
that such failure will prove the only way in which his mission will succeed. In
the carefully staged Gethsemane scene, however, he is clearly presented as
panicking, terror-stricken at the thought of what he must undergo and ur
gently pressing his Father to spare him such torment. He does not sound like a
man for whom resurrection is just round the comer'.20 In this case, how can
the crucifixion and the death of Jesus still be regarded as tragic? According to
Eagleton, there are two points which support this understanding. Firstly, there
is an inescapable destiny and an unavoidable result. That is to say, 'If Jesus
finally submits willingly to death, it is only because he seems to see it as
unavoidable... And for him to have felt this way about his death is to say
that his crucifixion is tragic.'21 Indeed, it is not that Jesus himself chose this
result, but rather that he was chosen to fulfill it. Thus, for Jesus it is an
uncompromised situation. Actually, early in The New Left Church, when he
talks about extremity and 'uncompromisedness', Eagleton already claims: 'We
have to be totally committed to Christ, and any total commitment is poten
tially tragic because it blocks off one of the only ways we know out of tragedy,
the way of compromise'.22 Secondly, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus is
an unconditional sacrifice without seeking for any compensation. As Eagleton
said, 'the irony, however, is that once suffering is conceived in this instru
mental or consequentialist way, it ceases to be redemptive, rather as a gift
ceases to be truly a gift when one is thinking of a return.' So, 'if his death was a
mere device for rising again in glory, a kind of reculer pour mieux sauter, then it
330 GENG YOUZHUANG
was no more than a cheap conjuring tric

notion of scapegoat in traditional theory
necessarily tragic.
Before exploring the political significance o
Eagleton's 'radical Christology', as describ
Heaven. Boer said, to his surprise, that all
wind towards Christology. And this directio
of deep suspicions that Eagleton will need
Boer's suspicions precisely are, but, readi
might imply that Eagleton's theological th
ficiently theological. Whatever is the case
Christology is still the most fascinating p
2007, Eagleton wrote a long introduction
edited by Giles Fraser, in which Eagleton
Referring to the famous saying by Jesus,
to God what is God's', Eagleton suggests t
Jesus that is a spiritual rather than a politic
understand this saying in terms of the m
church, since in the first century Palest
that way. At that time, this might only sug
gives food to the hungry, welcomes stran
the oppressed. Thus, Jesus at this crucial mo
of the Lord in apocalyptic language, 'salvatio
codes of conduct but in the donation of a cr
kingdom of heaven turns out to be a surpris
worldly in the sense of signifying some f
istence, not in the sense of pie in the sk
Jesus' grim warning to his comrades that if
and justice, they would meet the same sticky
love in his view is whether they kill you
mean that Jesus is a political leader who
revolution.
For Eagleton, Jesus' revolution consists not

the Roman Empire, but in his daily speec
characteristics. Thus Eagleton thinks highly
acter and personality. From the Gospels, h
the characteristic features of the revoluti
This is not an anti-sexual motif. Celibacy is s
and sacrifice means giving up what is re
antly,' Even so, Jesus is not presented as
ferociously anti-social John the Baptist.
drink and general festivity... and he enjo
themselves of anxiety and live in the present.'27 As for the fema

washing Jesus' feet, Eagleton said that, 'when Judas protests that the
with which a woman friend anoints his feet could have been sold
for the poor, his Master backs the lavish aesthetic gesture over a well
but mean-spirited utility.'28 It is not at random that Eagleton c
mention one of his favourite writers, Oscar Wilde, and claims it
aspect of Jesus that attracted Wilde. Additionally, Eagleton finds t
disdain for the family is particularly striking.'29 It can be seen from h
that for Jesus 'his mission takes precedence over domestic ties',30 wh
seen from the words that the child Jesus said when he reproached his
who were looking for him. What is more, 'As for sexuality... he is rem
relaxed about it.'31 A good example of this is, of course, the sto
woman of Samaria.32 Finally and most importantly, in the Gospels
self is described as homeless, down-and-out, wandering about an
alised, without any skills or profession, whose friends were only
lower class people and even sinners. For Eagleton, this is why 'in
fixion and descent into hell, Jesus in St Paul's view is "made sin,"
with the scum and refuse of the earth, enduring solidarity with suff
and despair in order to transfigure it through his resurrection.'33 No
Jesus himself is not very sure of this resurrection. However, 'Only if
was a cul-de-sac could it become a horizon.... It is because his action is
fruitless, a dead-end and absurdity, that it can bear fruit in the lives of others.'34
It is in this sense that the weak Jesus becomes a revolutionary and the logi
of the weak in the Judaeo-Christian tradition is renamed as 'revolutionary
reversal'.
Now we may speak of the political significance of tragedy in the passion

and death ofjesus. In his Introduction to The Gospels, Eagleton referred to th
song sung by Mary when she was pregnant with the baby Jesus, which was
written down by Luke and was later called the Magnificat. After quoting th
Magnificat in full, Eagleton makes a very long exposition of it,
This motif of revolutionary reversal is almost a cliché of Old Testament theology.

Yahweh can be neither imaged nor given a name, but you shall know him for
who he is when you see the poor being exalted and the rich dispossessed. The
motif of a close link between the deepest suffering and the highest exaltation is a
traditional one in Judaism, as it is in the Western lineage of tragedy. True power
flows from powerlessness, a doctrine which Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection is
meant to exemplify. The poor and exploited are a sign of failure of the governing
powers, since they illustrate what misery those powers must wreak in order to
secure their sway. In this sense, the dispossessed are negative images of the just
society. They are, too, in the fact that they have much less to lose than those who
lord it over them, and so have a greater interest in working for such a reversal.
Mary herself is a type of this revolutionary reversal, as an obscure young Galilean
332 GENG YOUZHUANG
woman chosen for no particular reason to

very moment that she is being elevated in
taking on human flesh in her womb. In th
what the Old Testament calls the anawim, an
as the 'shit of the earth'—the useless, vul
approaching kingdom is most powerfully p
It is obvious that there is a trace of Ma

early as The Body as Language: Outline of a
suggested that there is an inseparable lin
biblical sense and the Marxist proletaria
proletariat, they are "a class... within hu
of all classes".'36 Here the notion of'impa
narrative of Jesus' crucifixion lies in its po
follows: 'The destitute condition of huma
had to be lived all the way through, pres
into the hell of meaninglessness and d
patched up or short-circuited.'37 Hence,
Eagleton draws a natural conclusion,
Marxism and Christianity seek to redeem, b
themselves at the heart of it. Marxism is an
not simply a Utopian alternative to it; and
a crucifixion and descent into hell. Otherwise what is reclaimed in both cases
would not be this condition in all its deadlock and despair.'38
Comparatively speaking, Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic is more am
bitious and has more theoretical value than After Theory. Furthermore, the
topic of the former is closer to literary criticism and aesthetic theory than the
latter, but the content of its concern is far beyond the realm of literature and
aesthetics. As Eagleton said, this work is not a historical study of tragedy, but a
work on the problem of politics.39 It covers the theological issue we are
referring to. Therefore, in Sweet Violence, there is an inherent logical link
between the analysis of tragedy and the tragic and the poor in the biblical
sense. As far as the origin of these thoughts is concerned, the former is from
Raymond Williams' Modern Tragedy, the latter is from the Bible. The true
theoretical foundation, however, is Marx's theory of proletariat revolution.
It is just because of this that Eagleton's theological thinking in Sweet Violence
can be described as a political theology or revolution theology.
We have argued that in Eagleton's recent works his theological tum
receives clearer explication. Among these three recent books, Trouble With
Strangers: A Study of Ethics (2008) might be the most noteworthy. Like Sweet
Violence: The Idea of the Tragic, it is an ambitious work, for from Aristotle to
Alain Badiou and Zizek, almost all important theorists are analyzed and
commented upon. At the same time, relevant thinking in Judaeo-Chr

and Marxism is given some attention. Of course, as usual, a large proporti
this ethical work is devoted to analysing literary works. However, th
etical tool of this work is Jacques Lacan's psychoanalysis. Some schol
recate this. For instance, even before reading this work Boer commen
although Eagleton appropriated Lacan's theory, yet 'Eagleton is still ca
the Lacanian snare'.40
But using Lacan's theory, Eagleton indeed analyses some topics very
For instance, when one of Eagleton's favorite subjects—the Eucharist
under the lens of this new tool, the profundity of Eagleton's theore
lysis is shown. When talking about Lacan's symbolic order, Eagleton
that, 'The passage from the imaginary to the symbolic is one from th
sphere of the ego and its objects to the open field of intersubjectivity. It
the latter that Lacan gives the name of the Other ... One might say
function of the symbolic order, rather like that of the Christian Euchari
convert flesh and blood to sign. The subject is now supposed to be id
with its signifying place within a pre-given web of social relations.'41
true, as Lacan elucidated, that the subject is split into two, set between la
desire, and that there is a dialectic movement between them in the n
the Real, then the Eucharist would have more sophisticated implicatio
through this theory, that Eagleton gives the Eucharist a more intere
terpretation. Firstly, 'Flesh and blood may be the basis of the imagin
contrast to the disincamate signifiers of the symbolic; but it is also the m
the Real—of the animal, injurable, death-haunted humanity we sha
species.'42 Thereby, what constitutes intimacy and universality is a c
thing, i.e., the body, and to have contact with one another as bodies
specific and abstract. On the other hand, 'Flesh and blood is the degre
humanity, at once monstrous in its anonymity and the medium of ou
cherished contact.'43 No matter whether it is seen in terms of ethic
terms of politics, the body in its flesh and blood constitutes the m
communication in the symbolic exchange. Eagleton suggests th
Christian doctrine, this symbolic truth is not incompatible with the
For instance, the form of it could be a sharing of the jouissance of etern
through infinite charity, or it might be being ready to sacrifice one's ow
for anyone whereby one will achieve a nobility in absurdity. Not onl
'If Christian faith involves both the symbolic and the Real, it also pr
its own version of the imaginary.'45 This is to imitate Jesus in the final
which is to say, in effect, the readiness to be murdered by the state
pursuit of justice.'46 Let us go back to the death ofjesus. Eagleton thi
there was a romantic dream, which was to look for something having
warmth and intimacy of the flesh, and at the same time offering a u
language. 'It is a fusion of the imaginary and symbolic to be found
334 GENG YOUZHUANG
Romantic symbol or concrete universal...

adding the Real to this unity of the other
'The risen Christ, the Word of God, is a h
availability of a language. We have seen al
the "Real" of this body, marked as it is by i
is present in the universal "language" o
symbolic communication between the pa
way that a meaning is present in a word
thus blended into a single action... The Eu
being-with-others, as a love-feast which pre
and justice; but it is one founded on death
sal, conditions which lie beyond the pl
course, given the relevant discussion in T
'New Left' Theology, this is not very new
analogy between symbolist poetics and
Trouble With Strangers: A Study of Ethics i
To some extent, Eagleton's recent think
theology' and, therefore, seen as both a
'negative' theology, the theology of hope,
by earlier theorists of Western Marxism.
however, that Eagleton's thinking contai
there remains an inclination in his wor
issues from an aesthetic perspective, a li
knowledge or agree with. Secondly, thou
political position and even engages in poli
tend toward the Utopian. In addition, and di
his theological concern is always interwove
The former is related to his Catholic backgr
ethnic identity. Thus, in my opinion, the
ing Eagleton's theological tum might be
speaking this is the best of the literary book
importantly, to some extent, just as in t
Picture of Dorian Gray, Saint Oscar is Eaglet
play, in Saint Oscar, Eagleton expressed f
ciety, literature and revolution, and theol
In Reason, Faith, & Revolution: Reflections
this question: 'Why are the most unlikely
talking about God?'49 In fact, this is not onl
question of our time. As we know, it has bec
theological issues to explore cultural and
about Eagleton's theological turn, James S
means the only figure of the Left to return,
MIRACLES AND REVOLUTIONARY REVERSALS 33 5
the radical implications in theological discourse and the Christian trad

with prominent theorists such as Slavoj Zizek, Jacques Derrida and A
Badiou being three of the most significant examples.'50 We could als
least add Giorgio Agamben and Jean-Luc Nancy to this list. Perhaps
help us to understand the question raised by Eagleton if his theological thi
is considered as part of the tradition of Western Marxism or Leftist think
What, then, is the relationship between Western Marxism and Christi
ology? Roughly speaking, the Marxist theory of alienation and Chris
eschatology are both implicitly utilised as theoretical backgrounds w
Western Marxist discourse. In this sense, both appeal to the unique experie
of the oppressed, and the discourses of the marginalised criticise and even
the existing societal and human conditions and pursue a Utopian or Me
hope through an aesthetic or political liberation. The 'negative theolo
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, the theology of hope of Emst
and Jürgen Moltmann, the liberation theology of Gustavo Gutierrez and th
who followed, Black theology, feminist theology and the like, could
understood in the light of this perspective. Even in the current genera
Western Marxists, we can find a continued exploration in this directi
the whole, we can perceive very clearly in this trend a suggestion of the i
theology that is already seen in the 'negative theology' of Adorno and furt
elaborated by Slavoj Zizek. Eagleton's 'revolutionary reversal' is but th
direct form of argumentation for this way of thinking.
So, can resorting to religious and theological sources provide us wi
answer to solve our current cultural and political problems? If so, it is
question without an answer. Nevertheless, the theoretical efforts of c
porary Western thinkers in this direction still need to be taken seri
because, as Eagleton suggests, 'it is doubtful that political change in it
entirely capable of resolving the tragic condition they portray. For t
Christianity holds, one would need a reversal which penetrated to the stuf
the body itself. If that is a myth, then the question is one of how tolerabl
situation can be made without such miraculous interventions'.51
REFERENCES
Terry Eagleton, Holy TerrorPostmodernism,

(Oxford: or, 'Hie Cultural Logic
Oxford University Press, 2005),Late
p. vi.
Capitalism.
This book, published exclusively in
Terry Eagleton, The Body as Languag
China in 1986, was a compilationOutlineof of a "New Left" Theolog
(London:
Fredric Jameson's lectures, translated intoSheed and Ward, 1970), p.
Roland in
Chinese, given at Peking University Boer in his Criticism of Heav
1985. The fifth chapter in this has
booktold
was us his story of looking fo
Eagleton's
an early version of Jameson's later book, The Body as Language: Outl
336 GENG YOUZHUANG
form. The
of a "New Left" 'Iheology: 'Infuture,
myifincreas
there is such a
ingly desperate searchthing,
for this shortish
is monstrous. I use the word rhet
book, I even inquiredorically
of Eagleton
to refer to an eventhimthat has no
self, only to be told that when
recognizable hefuture
form. The came is the non
across copies he burned them.
identifiable John
... Monstrosity should ... be
Milbank has a copy, Kenviewed as that which
Surin overtakes us. It
informed
me, but Milbank was adoes not approach
little cageyusabout head on. That
which approaches from
letting it out of his grasp."(Roland ahead, which is
Boer,
Criticism of Heaven:inOn frontMarxism
of me, can be seen.
andIt constitutes
'Iheology (Leiden: Brill, a horizon of expectation.
2007), p. 279, I see it
note 9.) coming... The future often comes from
Stephen Regan, ed. The Eagleton Reader the back. The future comes back.' Danie
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998), p. vii. Goosen, 'The tragic, the impossible and
James Smith, Terry Eagleton: A Critical democracy: an interview with Jacques
Introduction (Cambridge: Polity Press, Derrida', International Journal for the
2008). Semiotics of Law 23 (2010), p. 261.
Terry Eagleton, 'Ihe Body as Language: Terry Eagleton, Sweet Violence: The Idea of
Outline of a "New Left" Iheology, p. 12. the Tragic, p. 35.
Roland Boer, Criticism of Heaven: On Ibid.
Marxism and Theology, pp. 301-9. Terry Eagleton, The New Left Church
Terry Eagleton, The Body as Language: (London: Sheed and Ward, 1966), p. 2.
Outline of a "New Left" Theology, pp. 67-8. Terry Eagleton, Sweet Violence: Ihe Idea of
Terry Eagleton, Ihe Gatekeeper: A Memoir the Tragic, p. 37.
(London: The Penguin Press, 2001), p. 33. Roland Boer, Criticism of Heaven: On
Terry Eagleton, The Gatekeeper: A Marxism and Theology, p. 301.
Memoir, p. 3$. Terry Eagleton, Introduction to The
James Smith, Terry Eagleton: A Critical Gospels, selected and annotated by Giles
Introduction, p. 150. Fraser (London: Verso, 2007), p. xviii.
Terry Eagleton, After 'Iheory (New York: Ibid., p. xxii.
Basic Books, 2003), p. 122. Ibid., p. xxiii.
Ibid., pp. 166-7. Ibid.
Ibid., pp. 175-6. Ibid.
Roland Boer, Criticism of Heaven: On Ibid.

Marxism and 'Iheology, p. 276. Ibid., p. xxiv.
Terry Eagleton, Sweet Violence: Ihe Idea of Ibid., pp. viii-xxx.
the Tragic, p. xvii. Ibid., p. xxvii.
Ibid., pp. 12 -13. Ibid.
I find the title of the book by Milbank Ibid., pp. xix-xx.

and Zizek might be derived from Terry Eagleton, The Body as Language:
Derrida, and the meaning of the word Outline of a "New Left" Theology, p. 68.
monstrosity given by Derrida might be Terry Eagleton, Sweet Violence: The Idea of
used to explain a certain emotion in the Tragic, p. 37.
Eagleton's theory. The late Derrida, in Ibid., p. 40.
an interview, says, 'At the end of the Ibid., p. x.
foreword to Of Grammatology I say that Roland Boer', Criticism of Heaven: On
"monstrosity" is the only word that we Marxism and Theology, p. 297.
can use to describe the future... 1 de Terry Eagleton, Trouble With Strangers: A
scribe monstrosity simply as the future,
Study of Ethics (London: Wiley-Blackwell,
2008), p. 83.
that is, that which has no recognizable
42
Ibid., pp. 319-20. 49 T erry Eagleton, Reason, Faith, & Revolution:
43
Ibid., p. 320. Reflections on the God Debate (New York:
44
Ibid.
Yale University Press, 2009), p. 140.
45
Ibid., p. 321. 511 James Smith, Terry Eagleton: A Critical
46
Ibid. Introduction, pp. 140-1.
47
Ibid., p. 323. 51 Terry Eagleton, Trouble With Strangers: A
48
Ibid. Study of Ethics, pp. 323-4.

Eagleton Giro

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Eagleton Giro

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

MIRACLES AND REVOLUTIONARY REVERSALS: TERRY EAGLETON'S THEOLOGICAL TURN

Author(s): Geng Youzhuang

'School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University of China, 59 Zhongguancun Street, Beijing

Literature & Theology © The Author

This proves clearly that Eagleton himself is

relationship between Marxism and theology has increasingly att

while that of the last chapter is 'The Ful

theology very thoroughly, and one chapter is specifically devoted to discussing

symbolist poetry, Marx's theory of production, German Romantic

secondly, he claims: 'One can move fairly

among other things an exploration of them'.17 Therefore, in the first ch

was no more than a cheap conjuring tric

For Eagleton, Jesus' revolution consists not

themselves of anxiety and live in the present.'27 As for the fema

Now we may speak of the political significance of tragedy in the passion

This motif of revolutionary reversal is almost a cliché of Old Testament theology.

woman chosen for no particular reason to

It is obvious that there is a trace of Ma

commented upon. At the same time, relevant thinking in Judaeo-Chr

Romantic symbol or concrete universal...

the radical implications in theological discourse and the Christian trad

Terry Eagleton, Holy TerrorPostmodernism,

Ibid., pp. 175-6. Ibid.

Roland Boer, Criticism of Heaven: On Ibid.

I find the title of the book by Milbank Ibid., pp. xix-xx.

S-ar putea să vă placă și