ENGL 6273

Sovereignty II: Literature and the Problem of Political Theology

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

The seminar focuses on one of the most complex and pressing problems of (not only) our time: political theology. Historically defined in different ways, political theology is a critical discourse that links sacred and secular sources of authority – faith, and reason – in order to ground community in a language of legitimacy. Variously articulated in antiquity by Marcus Varro and others and crucially reformulated by Augustine in City of God, political theology identifies the sources of authority, describes their relation to each other, and explores their worldly administration and organization. Its analysis leads directly to political institutions, cultural practices, societal behaviors, beliefs and economic structures. Distinct from other forms of theology or political philosophy, political theology attempts to relate, narrate and/or translate language about God or the gods into the exercise of power and the “organization of bodies in space and time” (Cavanaugh and Scott). Whether in reference to the power over life or the afterlife of the soul, the body, the law, the nation or the planet, theo-political discourse performs in historical and conceptual ways, harnessing, synthesizing and legitimizing authority for its purposes. Figuration, narration, and scenic presentation are all key to this performance. We will read theoretical and literary texts that analyze this performance from different perspectives. Related topics include sovereignty, secularization, enmity, exception, sacrifice, race, translation, biopolitics, eschatology, economy, conversion, embodiment and metaphor.

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