Ewan Fernie’s demonic brilliance

As I mentioned earlier, on Tuesday I attended a lecture by Prof. Fernie on the demonic in modern literature and culture. At first I was puzzled by the form of the leture but the more I’ve thought about it the more I’ve come to appreciate it. There was no single argument being put together in the usual philosophica mode. Instead the lecture comprised two unequally long sections. The first was a very compressed survey of some demonic themes  in modern European high culture. The range covered was very impressive: literature, philosphy, music. Fernie made a brilliant  observation that the Augustinian tradition has understood evil and the demonic in terms of privation and non-being and that modern individuality understands itself as negation and separation and that there is a strong parallel to be pursued here. He will do this in his forthcoming book on this topic (with Routledge in a year or two). The second, longer section was an exposition-interpretation of Coetzee’s novel about Dostoevsky. What was so striking about this section  was the existential wisdom Fernie displayed. Remarkable. This must be part of his seeking ‘a more experientially honest and intense way of doing and writing criticism. ‘ I’d say he’s succeeding sof ar. I’ll be sure to blog more about the book when it comes out. In the meantime, on May 8th at Manchester Cathedral, Prof. Fernie will be present at a creative liturgical event being hosted that includes new compositions by Tim Garland.