MEMORY AND METAPHOR

Abstract

Informed by such influences as postmodern theologian Mark Taylor,poet Federico Garcia Lorca, novelist Marguerite Duras, and phi‐losopher Simone Weil, this poetic reflection on the meaning(s) of reminiscence is offered without (what has come to be called) art criticism. In the words of Harold Bloom, this poetic offering is an intentional “misreading” (1980) of texts for the purpose of imagining afresh the two basic questions of all learning theory, remembering, and forgetting. At the same time, this offering is not to be understood as the criticism of poetry, or how to read a poem, but is in itself a poem without overt academic analysis. Is it possible, within the context of the field of Religious Education, to allow the poet to speak without requiring the poet to analyze the poem? To this question, the author answers that it is not only possible but also responsible. Beginning with reflections on selected works by Romare Beardon, a leading twentieth century African American artist, the author moves to such themes as love and hate, fear and hope, trust and mistrust of God, and power and powerlessness. It is a poetic narrative based on paradox, one that leads to questions about the relation of memory, self, community, and God. It is a story of how learning sometimes takes place in a postmodern era.