Criticizing "secular criticism": Reading religion in Edward Said and Kathryn Tanner

Abstract

At the forefront of cultural studies, Edward Said has directed an influential critique of religious discourse. In its place he has proposed "secular criticism." In the first part of this essay I will analyze Said's critique of religious discourse and his alternative to it. Then, turning from the work of Edward Said to that of Kathryn Tanner, I will develop her account of belief in a transcendent God and its potential to create a self-critical and open-ended set of cultural practices. Essential to Said's argument is the claim that religious discourse cannot engender self-critical cultural practices. By juxtaposing Tanner's account of belief in a transcendent God with Said's criticism of religious discourse I will address this claim in two ways. First, I will show that Said's understanding of religious discourse is incomplete and, therefore, mistaken. Second, and more importantly for people who wish to retrieve the critical potential of religious discourse, Tanner's proposals will serve as an example of how one can both speak from within a religious tradition and advocate self-critical cultural practices.