The Ecology of Memory

What is it about?

Berry’s notion of memory has rich theological and literary roots, which reach to Augustine and T. S. Eliot. After a brief tour through Augustine’s theological view of memory and Eliot’s development of this in The Four Quartets, I examine Berry’s short story “Pray without Ceasing” to demonstrate how this theology works out in the form of his story, enabling his characters to understand and love the whole pattern of which they are a part. By understanding how Berry incorporates this ancient Christian view of memory in the structure of his narration, we can see how memory comprises an integral part of his culturally embattled agrarian and ecological vision.

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