Kerstin Shands

English Studies: Journeys Within : The Contemporary Spiritual Autobiography Kerstin Shands

An introspective quest narrative that bridges theology and literature in tracing the stories of authors who move from states of confusion, dejection, or loss to insights or epiphanies of spiritual revelation, from conversion to deconversion or from deconversion to conversion, the contemporary spiritual autobiography belongs to an as yet understudied genre of autobiographical writing. Shining an analytic light on individual texts placed within a broad spiritual perspective, this study offers an illumination of the genre of spiritual autobiography itself while relating it to understandings of the role of religion and spirituality in our time.