Ethics for Apocalyptic Times

<p><em>Ethics for Apocalyptic Times</em> is about the role literature can play in helping readers cope with our present-day crises including the COVID-19 pandemic climate change and the shift toward fascism in global politics. Using the lens of Mennonite literature and their own personal experience as a culturally Mennonite queer Latinx person Daniel Shank Cruz investigates the age-old question of what literature's role in society should be and argues that when we read literature <em>theapoetically</em> we can glean a relational ethic that teaches us how to act in our difficult times.</p><p>In this book Cruz theorizes theapoetics-a feminist reading strategy that reveals the Divine via literature based on lived experiences-and extends the concept to show how it is queer decolonial and equally applicable to secular and religious discourse. Cruz's analysis focuses on Mennonite literature-including Sofia Samatar's short story collection <em>Tender </em>and Miriam Toews's novel <em>Women Talking</em>-but also examines a non-Mennonite text Samuel R. Delany's novel <em>The Mad Man</em> alongside practices of haiku and tarot to show how reading theapoetically is transferable to other literary traditions.</p><p>Weaving together close reading and personal narrative this pathbreaking book makes a significant and original contribution to the field of Mennonite literary studies. Cruz's arguments will also be appreciated by literary scholars interested in queer theory and the role of literature in society.</p>