Please use the Department links below to find a specific member of staff in Cultures, Languages and Area Studies.
Chris Thornhill
Teaching Associate in Liberal Arts, Faculty of Arts
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Biography
Originally from the edgelands of south Nottinghamshire, I was inspired to study theology to make sense of the arcane references to religious culture I encountered in literature, art and music, and continue to be concerned with the various ways in which the sacred and the mystical can be attended to through cultural productions. I returned to Nottingham to study for an MA in Theology, Philosophy and Language and again to complete my PhD under the supervision of Alison Milbank and Agata Bielik-Robson (funded by the AHRC).
Expertise Summary
My field of expertise covers a range of topics in theology, philosophy and the arts. My primary research is concerned with the ways in which writers and artists make use of religious sources in ways that blur distinctions between affirmation and profanation. In particular, I am interested in how these sources are used to approach questions of nature and ecology. In this respect, I pursue research in diverse orthodox and heterodox mystical traditions, with a particular focus on Kabbalah and Hermeticism. My doctoral dissertation examined the use and misuse of diverse biblical, philosophical and esoteric texts in the early fiction of Cormac McCarthy and argued that these novels present an authentic eschatological vision, articulated paradoxically between the categories of the natural and the supernatural. I also maintain an interest in literary and philosophical receptions of the Book of Job, literature and ethics, and in the idea of artistic production as a religious practice.
Research Summary
At present, I am continuing my exploration of how the traditional texts and doctrines of theology are being used (or creatively misused) in an era that has been described as 'post-secular' to address… read more
Current Research
At present, I am continuing my exploration of how the traditional texts and doctrines of theology are being used (or creatively misused) in an era that has been described as 'post-secular' to address current conversations regarding environmental ethics. At present, my focus is on the sufficiency of human language to name and describe the non-human.