Circuitous Journeys: Modern Spiritual Autobiography

Studies in Religion and Literature

by David Leigh

Circuitous Journeys provides a close reading and analysis of ten major life stories by twentieth-century leaders and thinkers from a variety of religious and cultural traditions: Mohandas Gandhi, Black Elk, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, C. S. Lewis, Malcolm X, Paul Cowan, Rigoberta Menchu, Dan Wakefield, and Nelson Mandela.

The book uses approaches from literary criticism, developmental psychology (influenced by Erik Erikson, James Fowler, and Carol Gilligan), and spirituality (influenced by John S. Donne, Emile Griffin, Walter Conn, and Bernard Lonergan).

Each text is read in the light of the autobiographical tradition begun by St. Augustine's Confessions, but with a focus on distinctively modern and post-modern transformations of the self-writing genre. The twentieth-century context of religious alienation, social autonomy, identity crises and politics, and the search for social justice is examined in each text.

259 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

If the reader is doing research on spirituality and the similarities of a seeker's journey then this book will be helpful. This is an academic read and could be used in some type of comparative religion or psycoanalytic study.