Author: Antony Copley
Publisher: Yoda Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 316
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8190666827
Description
Gay Writers in Search of the Divine is an exploration of how three English writers – Edward Carpenter, E.M. Forster, and Christopher Isherwood- all three of whom shared a similar sexuality, sought in Hindu spirituality one way of achieving personal autonomy and fulfillment.
Antony Copley reveals how these writers reconciled their inner conflicts and were led in the direction of Hinduism either by friendship or the influence of gurus. Tacking the themes of the guru-disciple relationship, their quarrel with Christianity, relationships with their mothers and the problematic feminine, the tensions between sexuality, and the attraction of Hindu mysticism, this fascinating work seeks to reveal whether Hinduism offered the answers and fulfillment these writers ultimately sought.
COMMENTS
‘The book makes a valuable contribution to the critical understanding of Carpenter, Forster and Isherwood.’
- Times Literary Supplement
‘In his (Copley’s) Intriguing new study of the nexus between homosexuality, mysticism and Hinduism he again shows a willingness to enter territory that more strait-laced historians might choose to avoid.’
- Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
‘Antony Copley’s book is delightful and instructive. He is a well-know disciple of Gandhi and probably one of the greatest living experts on India more widely, and this depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding shines through on every page.’
- The Round Table
‘This is not your standard scholarly monograph; neither is it a book of literary criticism, nor for that matter, cultural studies in any conventional sense. It is a book about spiritual quests that is itself the record of a spiritual quest.’
- Modern Fiction Studies
Contents
Preface
Prologue
PART I: A SPIRITUAL BLOOMSBURY
Chapter One Between Two Gurus: Edward Carpenter and Walt Whitman
Chapter Two Between Two Gurus: Edward Carpenter and Ilakkanam the Grammarian
Chapter Three The Disciple Turned Guru: Edward Carpenter, Sexologist and Mystic
PART II: LOVE IN ABSENTIA
Chapter Four Forster, Religion, and Sexuality
Chapter Five Forster and the Krishna Cult
PART III: THE ATMAN DENIED
Chapter Six Isherwood and Swami Prabhavananda: The Guru-Disciple Relationship
Chapter Seven Isherwood’s Vedantist Quest: Transcending the Ego
Epilogue
Bibliography
A Brief Glossary
Index
About the Author