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Risen Sons: Flannery O'Connor's Vision of History

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Desmond explores how O'Connor's "vision of history" relates to her creative practice as a literary artist. Argues that the crucial questions "about her vision of history, about the relationship between past and present, about her artistic practice -- ultimately lead back to the metaphysical foundation: her radical sense of the order of reality."

Disputes assertions by critics that her "sense of the order of reality is fundamentally Manichean." Contends instead, that her "metaphysics, historical vision, and artistic technique all derive specifically from her belief in Christ's Incarnation and Redemption of human history." Regards the impact of this belief to be so strong as to make her artistic and historical vision "inseparable within the creative act."

Examines the metaphysical basis of O'Connor's art and considers her growth in sophistication and technique as a writer for the purpose of determining whether it is connected to her own theological development, thinking, and vision. Explores this issue "to emphasize the dynamic of her growth against the habit [by many critics] of seeing her thought and art in a totally monolithic way."

R. Neil Scott / Middle Tennessee State University