Creation and Creativity: From Genesis to Genetics and Back

The idea of creation and creativity is among the most powerful and pervasive of metaphors bequeathed to the modern world by the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Twelve specialists here explore the original sources and contemporary manifestations of the theme in both high and low culture, from the Book of Genesis to James Joyce's Ulysses, Children of Gebalawi by the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz, and the Polish poetry of Wislawa Szymborska, and to popular films, such as Bruce Almighty and Animatrix, and animation films for children. Even current debates on genetics and ecology and the public exhibition of plastinated human bodies invoke these same themes, and make this volume a topical contribution to cultural studies today. Jonneke Bekkenkamp, Why on Earth? Creation and Creativity in the Vocabularies of Patricia de Martelaere, Wislawa Szymborska and Julia Cameron Athalya Brenner, Recreating the Biblical Creation for Western Children: Provisional Reflections on Some Case Studies Wim Drees, Vocabularies of Creation and Creativity in Debates on Genetics and Ecology Jan Willem van Henten, Playing God in the Movies: Bruce Almighty and the Preposterous History of Genesis 1:26-27 Alistair Hunter, Creation out of (almost) Nothing or Does God Wear Genes? Alison Jasper, Mysteries under Your Skin David Jasper, 'Down through all Christian minstrelsy': Genesis, James Joyce and Contemporary Vocabularies of Creation Louise Joy Lawrence, Tracing Tricksters: Creation and Creativity in John's Gospel Richard van Leeuwen, Creation and Revelation in Naguib Mahfouz's Novel Children of Gebelawi Lloyd Ridgeon, Is the God of Islam an Evil Creator? Caroline Vander Stichele and Todd Penner, Terminatrix: Visualizing the End of Creation in Animatrix