Jessica DeCou is visiting lecturer in theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She earned her Ph.D. in theology at the University of Chicago and is a former Lilly Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago. This volume is a revised version of a dissertation completed at the University of Chicago under the direction of Kathryn Tanner.
Description
"Eberhard Jungel once described Karl Barth as the happiest theologian of our age. But the playfulness of Barth's theology has never fully been explored - until now. In this wonderfully alert and exuberant study, Jessica DeCou develops a full-blown Barthian theology of popular culture. Drawing on Barth's understanding of work and play, she argues that the theologian's job is to play with popular culture in a way that respects the proper freedom and limits of cultural production. This is not only a creative and exciting new reading of Barth, but also an invitation to a more rigorous and more generous engagement with the everyday materials of popular culture." Benjamin Myers Charles Sturt University, Sydney, Australia "Jessica DeCou's work is a rare combination of sustained theological ingenuity, a discerning eye for pop culture illustration, and an engaging appreciation for comedy. Serious yet highly readable, for scholars and for students." Tom Beaudoin Fordham University