Daniel Shank Cruz, "Ethics for Apocalyptic Times: Theapoetics, Autotheory, and Mennonite Literature" (Penn State UP, 2023)

Dec 24, 2023

Explore the power of literature in times of crisis, including the triple pandemic of COVID-19, climate change, and global fascism. Discover theopoetics as a reading strategy that connects literature to the divine, and its intersection with queer theory and decolonial studies. Learn about the importance of inclusivity, autotheory, and developing a relational ethic through personal experiences. Delve into the relationship between Mennonite literature and theology, and the existential crisis within the field. Reflect on the political potential of literature and the impact of theopoetic reading experiences.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

The Power of Literature in Times of Crisis

02:11 • 11min

Reading theopoetically and the Relationship Between Literature and the Divine

12:54 • 6min

Theopoetics, Queer Theory, and Decolonial Studies

18:33 • 4min

Theopoetics, Auto Theory, and the Importance of Inclusivity

22:41 • 9min

The Intersection of Mennonite Literature and Theology

31:50 • 12min

Reflections on Theopoetic Reading Experiences and the Political Potential of Literature

44:04 • 2min

Ethics for Apocalyptic Times: Theapoetics, Autotheory, and Mennonite Literature (Penn State UP, 2023) is about the role literature can play in helping readers cope with our present-day crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the shift toward fascism in global politics. Using the lens of Mennonite literature and their own personal experience as a culturally Mennonite, queer, Latinx person, Daniel Shank Cruz investigates the age-old question of what literature’s role in society should be, and argues that when we read literature theapoetically, we can glean a relational ethic that teaches us how to act in our difficult times.

In this book, Cruz theorizes theapoetics―a feminist reading strategy that reveals the Divine via literature based on lived experiences―and extends the concept to show how it is queer, decolonial, and equally applicable to secular and religious discourse. Cruz’s analysis focuses on Mennonite literature―including Sofia Samatar’s short story collection Tender and Miriam Toew’s novel Women Talking―but also examines a non-Mennonite text, Samuel R. Delany’s novel The Mad Man, alongside practices of haiku and tarot, to show how reading theapoetically is transferable to other literary traditions.

Weaving together close reading and personal narrative, this pathbreaking book makes a significant and original contribution to the field of Mennonite literary studies. Cruz’s arguments will also be appreciated by literary scholars interested in queer theory and the role of literature in society.

Daniel Shank Cruz (they/multitudes) is a queer, disabled boricua who grew up in New York City and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Multitudes is the author of Queering Mennonite Literature: Archives, Activism, and the Search for Community, also published by Penn State University Press.

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