Join a GTU Class: William Blake and Religion

As one of the most iconic figures associated with Anglo-Romanticism, William Blake offers a rich opportunity for theorizing the relationship between religion, art and literature. This seminar proposes reading Blake “theologically,” looking at how his major poems and images were catalyzed by his encounters with heterodox Protestant traditions (such as Swedenborgianism), and various religious cultures outside the pale of Romantic Britain (Catholicism, Hinduism, and forms of African spirituality). Blake’s religious syncretism will let us explore how he transformed theological tropes—such as prophecy and apocalypse—into radical experimentations with word and image.

Available in-person and Zoom.