Imagining Eden

Black Theology and the Search for Paradise
In this deeply interdisciplinary and poetically written book, Jamall A. Calloway explores the presence of Eden and the aftermath of the Fall in works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Richard Wright, and Alice Walker.
A number of Black writers have drawn inspiration from the biblical tale of the expulsion from paradise. In this deeply interdisciplinary and poetically written book, Jamall A. Calloway explores the presence of Eden and the aftermath of the Fall in works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Richard Wright, and Alice Walker. In reflecting on Eden, he contends, these writers rethought what paradise could mean in the face of the catastrophes of the Black experience.

By placing key novels in conversation with major religious thinkers, Calloway shows how Black writers adopted Edenic motifs to rebut orthodox interpretations of Genesis, with striking theological implications. He argues that Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room counters St. Paul’s proclamations on the mortification of the flesh, reads Morrison’s Paradise against St. Augustine’s City of God as a challenge to the exclusions of the Garden of Eden, investigates Wright’s use of Søren Kierkegaard’s interpretation of Adam in The Outsider, and demonstrates how Walker’s The Color Purple and Catholic theologian Ivone Gebara offer a radical reconceptualization of the serpent in Genesis. The book concludes with a reflection on Lucille Clifton’s poetry. Revealing the richness of Black writers’ engagement with theology, Imagining Eden is a profoundly original consideration of literature and liberation, God and humanity.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.