On Consumer Culture, Identity, the Church and the Rhetorics of Delight

by Mark Clavier

Publisher:

Bloomsbury Academic

, 2019

The Reading Augustine series presents short, engaging books offering personal readings of St. Augustine of Hippo's contributions to western philosophical, literary, and religious life.

Mark Clavier's On Consumer Culture, Identity, The Church and the Rhetorics of Delight draws on Augustine of Hippo to provide a theological explanation for the success of marketing and consumer culture. Augustine's thought, rooted in rhetorical theory, presents a brilliant understanding of the experiences of damnation and salvation that takes seriously the often hidden psychology of human motivation. Clavier examines how Augustine's keen insight into the power of delight over personal notions of freedom and self-identity can be used to shed light on how the constant lure of promised happiness shapes our identities as consumers. From Augustine's perspective, it is only by addressing the sources of delight within consumerism and by rediscovering the wellsprings of God's delight that we can effectively challenge consumer culture. To an age awash with commercial rhetoric, the fifth-century Bishop of Hippo offers a theological rhetoric that is surprisingly contemporary and insightful.

Features

Engaging and concise introduction to Augustine's ideas about materialism and human nature
Uses Augustine as entry point to explore what philosophy and theology have to say about the seemingly complete success of a marketing and consumer culture

Contents

Introduction

Part One: Worldly Rhetoric
1. Augustine's Rhetoric of Self-Destruction
2. The Rhetoric of Consumerism

Part Two: Heavenly Rhetoric
3. Augustine's Eloquent God
4. The Divided Wills of Christian Consumers

Part Three: The Mission & Ministry of God's Rhetoric
5. The Church as a Rhetorical Community
6. God's Orators

Bibliography
Index

Praise for On Consumer Culture, Identity, the Church and the Rhetorics of Delight

Clavier's work is highly readable, avoids technical jargon, and is practical … This is not just a book to understand culture. It will not leave any reader's own relationship to consumerism unexamined, an inescapable fate, thankfully.

[A] noteworthy exploration of Augustine in relation to contemporary realities and a significant contribution to Christian approaches to consumer culture.

Clavier's work provides an insightful assessment of a media-embedded culture through the eyes of Saint Augustine. This work would be welcome in any theological library or any institutions with a faith and learning integration component.

Mark Clavier's book is a significant piece of work, I hope it is widely read, and that he will continue to work on this.

The book does not require the reader to have read Augustine's work and makes further study easy by referencing in full the many authorities that are quoted.

Product Details

• Title: On Consumer Culture, Identity, the Church and the Rhetorics of Delight
• Author: Mark Clavier
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781501330957, 9781501330919, 1501330918, 1501330950
• Resource ID: LLS:9781501330957
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-11T23:08:58Z

About Mark Clavier

Mark Clavier is priest in charge of the United Benefice of Steeple Aston, North Aston, and Tackley. He completed his PhD in 2011. His dissertation is entitled The Role of Rhetoric and Delight in the Theology of Saint Augustine.