Professing Literature
Why do great novels, poems and plays move us and excite us? How can they change the way we look at ourselves and the world? What do these authors have to teach us? Why do they matter? There are no better answers to these questions than those provided by the authors themselves. We want to let them speak. Professing Literature is not a broad summary of major works. Instead, it will zero in on one or two key passages, looking at them closely in order to figure out what is at stake. The goal will be to appreciate an author’s...
EP17 – Bred in the Bone | Auden, September 1, 1939
On the day the Nazis invade Poland, beginning the Second World War, a poet nurses a drink in a New York bar. The unwarlike Auden has just immigrated to the United States from England, yet he feels a shadow rising behind him in the east that no one will be able to escape. Auden looks without and within, contemplating the primordial destructive urge that seems to be in control of the nations, the way modern life exacerbates it, and the only possible solution.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
EP16 - Family Breakfast | O’Connor, The Lame Shall Enter First
Flannery O’Connor, The Lame Shall Enter First. Sheppard is a high-minded liberal. Norton is his disappointing young son, who seems indifferent to Sheppard’s moral crusades. In the opening paragraphs of this short story Flannery O’Connor presents the two of them at breakfast. Every detail of the depiction alludes to just what is wrong within this little family, highlighting Sheppard’s “telescopic philanthropism” which neglects what is right in front of him as he attempts to prove his goodness and fails utterly.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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EP15 – Take My Eyes | Shakespeare, King Lear (Part Two)
William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act Four, Scene Five. Lear has lost his kingdom, his family, his security and his sanity. When he encounters his old friend the Earl of Gloucester, who has been savagely blinded, we witness one of the strangest and yet richest conversations in all of literature. Choked with both rage and guilt, Lear intercuts fantasies of revenge with flashes of moral clarity, and fumbles toward a profound articulation of what it means to suffer.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Mus...
EP14 - Not Altogether Fool | Shakespeare, King Lear (Part One)
William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act One, Scene Four. Looking forward to an easy retirement, where he can maintain the honours of kingship with none of the responsibilities, King Lear abdicates, and banishes the wrong daughter. His loyal fool attempts to show him the error of his ways.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Passage Music: "Minuet in D Minor (BWV Anh. 132)" - Traditional
EP13 – Beyond the Sunset | Tennyson, Ulysses
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses. Homer tells of how the mighty king of Ithaca arrived home after twenty years of war and wandering. However, in Tennyson’s monologue, one of the best-loved poems of the nineteenth century, we hear that he is restless and longs for the companionship and adventure that had come to define him.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Passage Music: "Lord of the Dead" by CJ-0
EP12 - The Winter Road | Bronte, Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Chapter 12. Late on a winter afternoon a young woman is walking from the country manor where she works toward the neighbouring village. Jane Eyre has known great sadness. She is poor and friendless but also strong and wise, possessed of high integrity and deep faith. When she shortly encounters a strange man on horseback the meeting will change her, but it will change him even more.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Open...
EP11 - An Old Woman and a Little Girl | St. Luke’s Gospel
St. Luke’s Gospel 8:40-56. In this episode Professing Literature tackles the New Testament. We discuss two intertwined miracle stories in Luke’s Gospel: a healing and a resurrection. Though the stories are short and seemingly simple Luke artfully deploys a handful of key details to help us understand the character of Jesus and the nature of his mission.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Passage Music: "From the North" by Wicked Cinema
Retrospective 01 | From Macbeth to Midsummer (Episodes 1-10)
David and Eric look back over the first series (episodes 1-10) of Professing Literature and David answers some listener questions. We got a great response from listeners and some great questions about episodes 1-10.
David also gives a few clues as to what's coming in the next series of episodes (Eric presses him on when there will be more Macbeth!).
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or otherwise, send us an email at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Passage Music: "...
EP10 - A Night In the Forest | Shakespeare, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act Four, Scene One. When four young aristocrats and a weaver spend a night in the forest outside of Athens they cross into the world of the faeries. The next morning they struggle to understand what happened.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Please reach out with questions, comments, or critiques to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com. We enjoy hearing from you!
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Passage Music: "An Afternoon at the Versailles" by Cercles Nouvelles
EP09 - At the Violet Hour | Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Part Two)
T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Part Two). The conclusion of our discussion of “Prufrock,” Eliot’s seminal exploration of modern alienation.
Professing Literature is officially back! Thanks for your patience during our hiatus. We've got more episodes coming. Thanks so much for your support!
We'd love to hear what you think about this episode or any of the others. Please send questions, comments, or otherwise to ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Passage Music: “A Short Story” by Andrea Colella
