Postsecular reading of feelings in contemporary Anglophone novels

Rattanamathuwong, Bancha and Knight, Mark and Tate, Andrew (2024) Postsecular reading of feelings in contemporary Anglophone novels. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis theorises postsecularism in relation to the representation of affectivities in contemporary Anglophone fiction. Employing a postsecular framework, it examines how the thematisations of emotions, feelings, or moods experienced by characters in the works of Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Margaret Atwood, and Ira Sukrungruang can lend themselves to a conceptual reconsideration of religiosity and secularity, both of which are commonly construed as opposite constructs. My argument is that these authors’ works can invite readers to negotiate the oppositional forces of beliefs and unbeliefs, and that from such negotiation can emerge reconfigured feelings which combine the sensibilities of both. This idea of negotiation is mainly shaped by Kevin Seidel’s proposition of a hermeneutic framework that focuses more on complementary connections between the secular and the religious as opposed to one marked by antagonism. The inquiry in this thesis is built upon the observations made in the works of John McClure (2007), Andrew Tate (2008), Amy Hungerford (2010), Manav Ratti (2013), Justin Neuman (2014), Zhange Ni (2015), and Kevin Seidel (2021). These scholars’ works investigate the postsecular entanglements in modern fiction. My project however differs in its use of affects as a means by which postsecular experience can be conceptually theorised. By looking at feelings, such as love, forgiveness, re-enchantment, hope and curiosity, I argue that postsecular compromise is achieved through the reformulation of affects. The discussion of feelings will draw on theoretical texts by Jane Bennett (2001), Charles Taylor (2007), Lauren Berlant (2011), Sianne Ngai (2015), and Harmut Rosa (2021). Apart from the contribution to the scholarship in postsecularism and literature, the last chapter, which addresses issues concerning political theology in Thailand, will also add to the conversation on secularism in non-Anglo-American contexts.