3. Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood

The American Novel Since 1945 (ENGL 291)

Professor Amy Hungerford's first lecture on Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood addresses questions of faith and interpretation. She uses excerpts from O'Connor's copious correspondence to introduce the critical framework of O'Connor's Catholicism, but invites us to look beyond the question of redemption. What do characters see in this text, and what are they blind to? What do we see as readers, and how does methodology shape this vision?

00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction: The Catholicism of Flannery O'Connor
12:27 - Chapter 2. The Search for Home: Haze's Essex
24:53 - Chapter 3. The Depiction of Nothingness: The Landscapes of O'Connor
33:42 - Chapter 4. The Symbolism of Senses: Hazel Motes's Eyes and Ears
38:43 - Chapter 5. Fragmented Bodies: What We Miss When We Limit Our Interpretative Lens

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2008.