Beyond Metaphysics: B'Tselem / In the Image—on Literature and the Arts in Our (Post)Secular Age

Abstract

Reflecting on poetry, prose, and the visual arts of the post–Second World War era, this short essay points to what I see as a broad tendency in literature and the arts to move away from metaphysical ideas regarding politics and ethics. Specifically, I suggest that many writers and artists of our post-1945 era transform the ancient biblical metaphor of humankind as created “in the image” of God into a viable framework for discussing and debating how to negotiate our various ideas regarding a better future. Building on my recent book, Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past, I wish to link the broad notion of futurity I develop there to a specific mode of engagement with what is to come: the idea of a future shaped by the inviolability of and respect for the life and dignity of all.