Have recently read a splendid article by Mark Roodhouse on the Anglican involvement in the Chatterley trial of 1960, and in particular the role of Mirfield father and literary critic Martin Jarrett-Kerr. It is particularly interesting on the tensions between Christian emphasis on the integrity of the creative act and the perceived need for censorship to avoid harm or scandal both within the church and in wider society. Jarrett-Kerr's 'peculiar vocation' to the literary world, in the eyes of some, forced him to negotiate between the literary reputation of Lawrence and the welfare of souls, as one colleague put it.
It's in the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 59; 3 (July 2008), 475-500 (available online, by subscription.).
Judith Hearne and the clockwork church
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To write about Irish fiction is to step into territory which I have tried
to avoid. This has not been for a lack of love, though that love has been
kindled...
3 days ago