Playful, Glad, and Free: Karl Barth and a Theology of Popular Culture

by Jessica DeCou (Editor)

Overview

This book offers a critical analysis and reinterpretation of Karl Barths theology of culturethe least studied aspect of his workrevealing his significance for contemporary work in theology of culture by applying his approach to the study of popular culture and entertainment. Grounding the study in Barths eschatology, which proves more amenable to secular culture than other models, DeCou shows that Barths approach recognized that the freedom of theology is qualified by the freedom of the Word and the freedom of secular culture. Barth therefore offers a middle way for evaluating and analyzing culture and religious forms. This book thus opens up a new avenue of interpretation of Barth and applies the insights of Barths theology in fresh ways to the structures of contemporary culture and its products.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451465471
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	09/01/2013
Series:	Emerging Scholars
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jessica DeCou is visiting lecturer in theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She earned her Ph.D. in theology at the University of Chicago and is a former Lilly Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago. This volume is a revised version of a dissertation completed at the University of Chicago under the direction of Kathryn Tanner.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Abbreviations ix

Introduction xiii

Part I Karl Barth's Theology of Culture

1 Geistproblem and Kulturproblem Barth's Response to Schleiermacher 29

2 "Serious" Questions about "True Words" in Culture Barth's Approach to Culture in CD IV/3 55

3 Re-Creation and Recreation Barth's Eschatological Perspective on Culture 83

4 Encounter in Freedom, Unity in Play Barth's Hermeneutic of Culture 115

Part II Toward a Barthian Theology of Popular Culture

5 Affirmation or Abomination Barth and Popular Entertainment 145

6 Summoned to Play Properly Honest Work and the Theologian of Popular Culture 179

7 "(Titles Are Hard)" Honest Work and the Task of Popular Entertainment 201

Bibliography 257

Index 265