Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.34075/cs.57.4.6
Priest, Church and Religion Versus Devil in Šegedin’s Novel Children of God
Lucijana Armanda Šundov
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu, Split, Hrvatska
Sažetak
In the analysis of Šegedin’s novel Children of God, the starting point is Milanja’s observation that the novel consists of dichotomies, of which one of the more pronounced is that between the profane and the holy, i.e., the godly and the satanic. In that dichotomy, the author of the paper notices various elements which impact the novel’s meaning level. The first is the character of the priest, which is compared to an inquisitor in the novel. The inquisitor is contrasted by the metaphor of the priest as “the good shepherd” as described in the Bible and the most important documents of the Congregation of the Clergy. In the central part of the paper, the author talks about the importance that certain theological issues have for the meaning of the novel, such as those on the fate of animals and unbaptised children in Christianity. Šegedin’s attitudes on the first issue are compared to the works Saidif and Saidif’s Pupils by Radovan Tasovac, a philosopher, something the critics have not done so far. While analysing the importance of the sacramental issue regarding the fate of the unbaptised children who died, the author consulted Document on limbo and various books of rites about funerals. In the final part of the paper, the focus is on the protagonist, the boy Stakan, who compares himself to the devil, and the devil’s figure supports the theory of how church concepts and oral tradition are intertwined. They eventually impact the distorted image of faith in the novel. With the help of the dichotomy between the godly and the satanic in the novel, its author adopts atheistic attitudes which impact his idea on the dread of life, although he does not reject God and faith completely.
Ključne riječi
Children of God; character of priest; role of church in novel; unbaptised children who died; image of devil
Hrčak ID:
287121
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.12.2022.
Posjeta: 733 *