Английская Википедия:Heavenly Discourse
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Italic title Шаблон:More references Heavenly Discourse is a collection of satirical essays by Charles Erskine Scott Wood, published in 1927.Шаблон:Sfn
Publication
Wood primarily wrote poetry and serious prose.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn However, Max Eastman and John Reed, co-editors of the radical magazine The Masses,Шаблон:Efn asked him to write something humorous for their periodical. The result was a short satirical attack on World War I named The Heavenly Dialogue, published in 1914. This became the first of a series of similar dialogues.Шаблон:Sfn Ten of these were published in The Masses. Following passage of the Espionage Act of 1917, The Masses was suppressed by the U. S. government on the grounds that it was detrimental to the war effort. Wood continued to write more discourses.Шаблон:Cn After World War I, Max Eastman and others urged publication of the discourses in book form.Шаблон:Sfn In 1927, the Vanguard Press published a collection of forty-one of them under the title Heavenly Discourse.Шаблон:Cn
Content
The work is primarily a dialogue between Satan and God about contemporary issues. They are presented as friendly adversaries who are often in general agreement.Шаблон:Sfn God represents Wood's own perspective.Шаблон:Sfn A variety of other characters also join the conversation, including angels, Jesus, Buddha, the Czar of Russia, Billy Sunday, Socrates, John Pierpont Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, Carrie Nation, Sappho, François Rabelais,Шаблон:Sfn Margaret Sanger,Шаблон:Sfn and Mark Twain.Шаблон:Sfn
Politically radical, the essays ridicule war,Шаблон:Sfn prudishness, patriotism, bigotryШаблон:Sfn and Christian theology.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Instead, they promoted bohemianism, free love, pacifism, socialism,Шаблон:Sfn birth control, and women's rightsШаблон:Specify.Шаблон:Sfn The satire of these essays mocks mainstream society and views it with skepticism.Шаблон:Sfn Titles of some of the discourses include Is God a Jew?, The United States Must Be Pure, and The Stupid Cannot Enter Heaven.Шаблон:Cn Wood wrote Heavenly Discourse from the bourgeois radicalism of Greenwich Village of which he was a part.Шаблон:Sfn
In one of the essays, Billy Sunday meets God, Wood pokes at bourgeois morality by imagining Billy Sunday in Heaven, surprised and disappointed to find people he condemned there. Jesus responds to his complaints, and points out that he associated with drinkers and prostitutes.Шаблон:Sfn
Heavenly discourse is one of very few Western texts from this era to mention the angel Israfil of Arab folklore.Шаблон:Sfn
Reception
Although Wood wrote extensively, this was his only work to reach a wide audience.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The book had a substantial impact on Robert Paul WolffШаблон:Sfn and Todd Gitlin.Шаблон:Sfn Some American publications have called it a "classic".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Kevin Starr wrote in 2002 that Heavenly Discourse now seems "pedestrian and heavy-handed" but affirms that it was daring in its time.Шаблон:Sfn
See also
Notes
Citations
References
- Шаблон:Cite journal
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite journal
- Шаблон:Cite journal
- Шаблон:Cite encyclopedia
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite magazine
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite thesis
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite journal
Further reading
External links
- Full text of Heavenly Discourse at HathiTrust Digital Library
