I looked up some Donne texts in the library, in my search for one or two appropriate sermons, and was sort of surprised to see the first texts in the BV and BX section, and one in HV. HV?
I'm thinking PR, and he's in HV?
I figured out the BV and BX ones after only a moment; B is for philosophy and theology, specifically practical theology and Christian denominations. Practical theology? That seems like an oxymoron in a way. But then, if by "practical" it means "the practice of" or "practices of" rather than "useful in the real world," then that makes some sense.
HV is weirder. H is social sciences, but HV is social pathology, social and public welfare, and criminology.
Quick guesses as to what Donne wrote that fits into HV?
I'll bite. His defense of suicide?
ReplyDeleteYep! Good job!
ReplyDeleteAh! Richard beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteI did a lot of work with Donne's sermons once upon a time, and they're all in BX, so that doesn't surprise me. But I guess I never needed an edition of Biathanatos.
donne is big in theology. There are folks who write about practices, everything from liturgy to art and artmaking, which would include poetry. I knew a woman who wrote her dissertation in theology on donne's holy sonnets.
ReplyDeleteThat said, practical theology *is* supposed to be useful in the real world. Josiah Royce is sometimes cited as a forefather of practical theology...he's basically a social philosopher and was a major influence on MLK Jr. MLK is considered a kind of practical theologian by people who care about this stuff....and he was real world useful. It could happen!
Lucky guess on my part, although a couple of his love poems might qualify in certain regions of the country....
ReplyDeleteBardiac, have you seen this?:
ReplyDeletelib.byu.edu/dlib/donne
Might be of use....