Sacred Dread

Brenna Moore

Description

In early twentieth-century France, a vast network of artists, writers, and religious seekers were drawn to Roman Catholicism's elaborate panoply of symbols centered on suffering. A preoccupation with affliction dominated the movement now known as the French Catholic revival, or the renouveau catholique—considered a watershed in the history of the modern Catholic Church and the "golden age" of French Catholicism. In Sacred Dread, Brenna Moore examines the life and writings of Raïssa Maritain (1883-1960), one of the few women to contribute to this intellectual movement. Moore explores the reasons why Maritain, a nonpracticing Jew, was attracted to this suffering-centered theological imagination and how she and other advocates transformed it in the wake of the Holocaust. Sacred Dread offers readers a new understanding of a radical Catholic piety that was embraced by a wide range of pre-war intellectuals.

By combining late-modern French intellectual and cultural history, Catholic theology, biography, and an analysis of Maritain's published and unpublished writings, Moore also identifies two major factors in this Catholic revival—gender and Judaism—that have not received adequate attention. Discourses of femininity and Judaism were central to the French Catholic articulation and idealization of suffering. Moore argues that Maritain, as a Jewish convert and one of the few women in this intellectual community, embodied symbolic associations of suffering, holiness, women, and Jews; indeed, for her husband, godfather, confessors, friends, and godchildren, Raïssa Maritain was herself the articulation of this abject ideal. Caught as she was in a web of meaning, Raïssa Maritain was an intellectual whose legacy deepens but also subverts the centrality of femininity and Judaism in French Catholic elaborations of suffering.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Holocaust
• HISTORY
• Philosophie et théologie
• The Holocaust
• Catholic Church
• General officer
• Judaism
• Catholic
• Christianity
• General
• Holocauste
• France
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 17 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268086893
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Sacred Dread

Sacred D R E A D

Raïssa Maritain, the Allure of Suffering, and the French Catholic Revival (1905–1944)

B R E N N A M O O R E

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

Copyright © 2013 by University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

For quotations of the poetry of Raïssa Maritain, the author and publisher gratefully acknowledgepermissionfromtheCercled’ÉtudesJacquesetRaïssaMaritain,Kolbsheim, forOeuvres complètes de Jacques et Raïssa Maritain;fromCommonweal;and from New Directions Publishing for Thomas Merton’s translation. We also thank the former Stanbrook Abbey Press, publisher ofPatriarch Tree/Arbre Patriarche.

“The Prisoner,” trans. Thomas Merton, from The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, copyright © 1977 by The Trustees of the Merton Legacy Trust. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Moore, Brenna. Sacred dread : Raïssa Maritain, the allure of suffering, and the French Catholic revival (1905/1944) / Brenna Moore. pages ; cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-268-03529-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-268-03529-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-268-08689-3 (e-book) 1. Maritain, Raïssa. 2. Suffering—Religious aspects—Catholic Church. 3. Catholic Church—France—History—20th century. 4. Authors, French—20th century—Biography. 5. France—Intellectual life—20th century. I. Title. PQ2625.A78739b Z76 2012 282.092—dc23 2012037113

∞The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

For John Seitz

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Acknowledgments

Introduction: Vicarious Suffering, Its Interpretive Limits, and Raïssa Maritain’s Work

That “Strange Thing, So Unknown to Us— Catholicism”: Steps to Conversion (1900–1906)

“She Who Weeps”: Feminized Suffering in the Thought of Léon Bloy and the Maritains (1906–35)

Building a New Tribe in the Gathering Storm: Raïssa Maritian the Complexity of Interwar Philo-Semitism (1923–39)

Poetry “in the Storm of Life”: Art, Mysticism, and Politics at Meudon (1931–39)

Holy Suffering, Memory, and the Irredeemable Present: Raïssa Maritain in Exile (1940–44)

Conclusion: Raïssa Maritain’s Posthumous Presence and the Allure of Suffering Reconsidered

Notes Bibliography Index

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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

It is a great pleasure to thank those whose generosity and care enabled this project, sharpened my thinking, and assisted me with support and en- couragement every step of the way. A project on Raïssa Maritain would not be possible without the as- sistance of René Mougel of the Cercle d’Études Jacques et Raïssa Maritain in Kolbsheim, France, and it is a privilege to thank M. Mougel here. Not only did he graciously guide me through the Maritain archives during my visits, but his measureless knowledge of the world of the Maritains— Raïssa in particular—was a tremendous resource he generously shared with me. I would also like to thank Noëlle Grunelius, granddaughter of the Maritains’ dear friends Antoinette and Alexander Grunelius, for her thoughtful insights into this eclectic community of French thinkers. Closer to home, Stephen Schloesser, S.J., brought my topic to life, and it is a pleasure to publicly thank him. His extraordinarily creative scholar- ship helped me know beyond a doubt that I wanted to learn more about the fascinating world of therenouveau catholique, and he showed me a way. For many years now, Steve has graciously introduced me to new resources and people, enriching my knowledge of French Catholicism immeasur- ably. The field is fortunate to have Steve blazing trails, and so am I. I feel extraordinarily privileged that this book began as a dissertation at Harvard Divinity School, during a time of new and expansive thinking about religion and theology. It was a pleasure to work with a wonderful group of colleagues, friends, and faculty in the pursuit of new intellectual

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