Scott and Simpson-Housley, "Mapping the Sacred: Religion, Geography and Postcolonial Literatures"

 

D "Mapping the Sacred: Religion, Geography, and Postcolonial Literatures," delves into the compelling theme of the intersection between geography and religion in postcolonial literature. However, the reviewer expresses reservations about the ambitious scope of the collection, which encompasses a wide range of writings from diverse cultural and political contexts, including the poetry of New Zealand, S1. Lucia, and Israel, as well as the fiction of Kenya, the subarctic North, Malaysia, and Bosnia. The critic contends that the extensive breadth of material may pose challenges for readers, making meaningful comparisons between the essays difficult.

 

While acknowledging the potential of postcolonial analysis to shed light on texts from various cultural and political landscapes, the reviewer suggests that the collection lacks sufficient common content to facilitate comprehensive comparisons among the essays. Additionally, the absence of substantial cross-commentary among contributors prevents the establishment of a thought-provoking and sustained critical conversation. The collection is deemed more useful as a resource for consulting specific writers or regions, particularly for those interested in the understudied theme of place and religion in postcolonial literature.

 

The editor, Jamie S. Scott, introduces Mircea Eliade's concept of "sacred space" as the organizational principle that weaves together the literary, religious, and geographical dimensions in the collection. Most essays, in practice, emphasize the geographical and religious aspects, treating literary representation as a form of community ritual. Scott provides a brief overview of the interdisciplinary fields converging in this exploration, touching on studies of religion and literature and cultural geography of religion. The editor contends that reading postcolonial literature through these theoretical perspectives allows for a clearer understanding of the contingency of our own "sacred spaces."

 

 

The initial segment of the book, titled "Land, Religion, and Literature after Britain," organizes sixteen essays into familiar regional categories. These essays explore the works of writers from white settler colonies like Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as more ethnically diverse and economically exploited colonies in the Caribbean, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. The collection includes insightful analyses of well-known authors, such as Brian Robinson's examination of Seamus Heaney's poetry, Barbara Pell's discussion of Hugh Hood's theological novels, and Trevor James's contribution on Ngugi wa Thiong'o's "The River Between." Some essays also examine overarching themes across multiple writers, such as Dorothy Lane's exploration of captivity in Australian mission narratives and James's analysis of landscape in several New Zealand poets. However, some essays focus on only two of the three thematic elements, and others offer narrower analyses of individual works, potentially appealing to readers familiar with those texts.

 

The second part of the book, "Sacred Landscapes and Postcoloniality across International Literatures," comprises five essays that push the boundaries of the collection's organizational structure. Some editorial choices are questioned, as the thematic coherence of essays appears to stretch the established regional framework. For instance, an essay on voodoo in fiction set in Haiti and Florida seems more aligned with the Caribbean section, and an essay on Grey Owl might fit better in the Canada section. The remaining essays on Israeli Chava Pinchas-Cohen's poetry, Bosnian Mak Dizdar's "Stone Sleeper," and contemporary fiction about the subarctic North are loosely related, with their connection seemingly based on proximity rather than a clear thematic thread.

 

In the "Afterword," postcolonial critic Gareth Griffiths acknowledges the risk of losing focus by broadening the discussion to encompass a wide range of texts. However, he defends the collection's approach, stating that addressing various issues at the intersections of postcolonialism, geography, and the sacred is necessary for exposing and scrutinizing deep-seated assumptions. While recognizing the virtue of self-awareness as a goal in discussions about literature, religion, and geography, the reviewer suggests that achieving this goal requires more common material to sustain meaningful conversations. The essays in "Mapping the Sacred" initiate numerous conversations, creating a dynamic cacophony akin to a bustling city street rather than the structured argument of a lecture hall. The recommendation is to approach these conversations through the filter of the table of contents or the index rather than attempting to navigate the entire volume cover to cover.