Disentangling the American Christian Right: An Interview with Dr. Christopher Douglas | Decifrando a direita cristã norte-americana: uma entrevista com o Prof. Dr. Christopher Douglas

Authors

  • Lucas da Silva Lopes Duke University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24220/2447-6803v44e2019a4676

Keywords:

Fundamentalism, Conservative Christian Resurgence, American Literature, Christian Multiculturalism, Christian Postmodernism

Abstract

Christopher Douglas is one of the most prominent scholars who has studied the rise of the conservative Christian Right in the American political arena and the links of this complex movement to American culture. Prof. Douglas taught at the University of Toronto and, for five years, at Furman University, South Carolina before transferring to University of Victoria in 2004. He teaches American literature, particularly contemporary American fiction, religion and literature, multicultural American literature, postmodernism, and the Bible as Literature. In the interview below, Prof. Douglas talks about his research and the idea behind his book “If God Meant to Interfere”, published in 2016; the explanatory concepts of Christian Multiculturalism and Christian Postmodernism; the spread of fake news, conspiracy theories, and alternative facts among Christian fundamentalists; the American political context. Prof. Douglas also offers interesting comments on the current Brazilian situation. His critical insights provide interesting and new perspectives that give fresh vitality to the debates about Christian fundamentalism. Prof. Douglas is committed to “public-scholar engagement” that is, research-based critical writings for non-academic audiences.
Links to his public academic activity are inserted throughout the interview.

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Author Biography

Lucas da Silva Lopes, Duke University

Duke University, Department of Romance Studies, Graduate Program in Romance Studies.

References

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DOUGLAS, C. A Genealogy of literary multiculturalism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009.

DOUGLAS, C. If God meant to interfere: American literature and the rise of the Christian right. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2016.

HOFSTADTER, R. The paranoid style in American politics. New York: Vintage, 2008.

KINGSOLVER, B. The poisonwood bible. New York: Harper Perennial, 1998.

LAHAYE, T.; JENKINS, J. Left behind: A novel of the Earth’s last days. Thorndike: Thorndike Press, 2000.

LYOTARD, J-F. The postmodern condition. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.

MCCARTHY, C. Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West. New York: Vintage, 1992.

PYNCHON, T. The crying of Lot 49. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.

ROBINSON, M. Gilead. Toronto: Harper Collins, 2004.

ROTH, P. The plot against America. New York: Vintage, 2005.

SAGAN, C. Contact. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.

Published

2019-12-19

How to Cite

Lopes, L. da S. (2019). Disentangling the American Christian Right: An Interview with Dr. Christopher Douglas | Decifrando a direita cristã norte-americana: uma entrevista com o Prof. Dr. Christopher Douglas. Reflexão, 44, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.24220/2447-6803v44e2019a4676