Beneath the Veil of the Strange Verses: Reading Scandalous Texts

Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture (SVMC)

by Jeremiah L. Alberg

Jeremiah Alberg’s fascinating book explores a phenomenon almost every news reader has the curious tendency to skim over dispatches from war zones, political battlefields, and economic centers, only to be drawn in by headlines announcing a late-breaking scandal. Rationally we would agree that the former are of more significance and importance, but they do not pique our curiosity in quite the same way. The affective reaction to scandal is one both of interest and of embarrassment or anger at the interest. The reader is at the same time attracted to and repulsed by it. Beneath the Veil of the Strange Verses describes the roots out of which this conflicted desire grows, and it explores how this desire mirrors the violence that undergirds the scandal itself. The book shows how readers seem to be confronted with a stark either turn away from scandal completely or become enthralled and thus trapped by it. Using examples from philosophy, literature, and the Bible, Alberg leads the reader on a road out of this false dichotomy. By its nature, the author argues, scandal is the basis of our reading; it is the source of the obstacles that prevent us from understanding what we read, and of the bridges that lead to a deeper grasp of the truth.

Genres: Philosophy

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Jefff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was certainly a "read up" for me. Nevertheless, it provides a basis for reading more deeply.

[Andrew Marr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A probing tour of western literature with stops at a few intriguing places where we have the opportunity to reflect on scandal in these texts. Stops include Nietzsche, Rousseau, Dante, the Gospels & Flannery O'Connor. The purpose of these stops & examination of key passages of these writers is to learn to read deeply enough so that we can pick ourselves after stumbling (scandal meaning stumbling block). Interestingly, each scandal has to do with the creation of victims & the way scandalized & scandalizing writers reveal them even when trying to hide them while other writers, especially the Gospel writers but also Dante & O'Connor scandalize the reader by pointing to them.