Public Theology and ‘The Fragment’: Duncan Forrester, David Tracy, and Walter Benjamin

Abstract

AbstractPublic theologians as diverse as Duncan Forrester and David Tracy have pointed to ‘the fragment’ as a useful and timely form of theological reflection. This article considers the possibility of the fragmentary form for public theology by complementing the suggestions of Forrester and Tracy with Walter Benjamin’s critical philosophy of history. Benjamin’s use of the fragment as a genre of expression reflects a desire to retrieve history without perpetuating history’s oppressive tendencies. Public theologians suspicious of these tendencies would do well not only to emulate Benjamin’s fragmentary style but to understand and embrace the philosophical reflections driving it. After summarizing the turn to the fragment in Forrester and Tracy, this article continues with a consideration of Benjamin, highlighting the possibilities for liberation and critique in a public theology dependent on his philosophy.