LEENA
KAITHARATH
Sacred
Heart Convent School, Amritsar
Paper
Title: “Religious Significance of the Literary Genre of Autobiography: A Study based on Confessions of St Augustine”
Abstract
According to Augustine, self realization is not possible without God
realization: “Noverim me, noverim Te!” (let me know
myself, let me know you!). In Confessions, Augustine makes a
confession to God, to himself, and to the human kind, describing his
past life, the events that led to the conversion, encounter with God, and the
life after the conversion. When he encountered the divine, he ponders into
his inner self and found himself as he is with all his shortcomings and
weaknesses. “Let my heart now tell you what prompted me to do wrong for no
purpose, and why it was only my own love of mischief that made me to do it. The
evil in me was foul, I loved it. I loved my own prediction and my own fault,
not the things for which I committed wrong, but the wrong itself.” This paper
investigates the religious significance of the literary genre of Autobiography through
the Confessions
of Augustine of Hippo and shows the confession self of Augustine and the mercy
and the Glory of God.
Sr. Leena Kaitharath,
Principal of Sacred Heart Convent School, Amritsar, Punjab, had her Masters in English Literature
from Annamali University, Chennai and MPhil from Christ University, Bengaluru.