Paul Cato University of Chicago Social Thought Second Year Art Has to be a Kind of Confession: Tracing the Testimonial Poetics of James Baldwin's Theology of Love
In a 1961 interview with Studs Terkel, James Baldwin described art as a means of self-reflection and storytelling, arguing that all “art has to be a kind of confession” and insisting that “if you can examine and face your life, you can discover the terms with which you are connected to other lives, and they can discover them, too.” Baldwin’s writing is filled with anecdotes and personal stories that convey broad religious and philosophical truths – a form of discourse that theologian Rebecca Chopp terms a “poetics of testimony.” Employing literary, sociohistorical, and philosophical analyses, I argue that Baldwin’s numerous testimonies lay the groundwork for a love-based spirituality, wherein moments of intimacy, vulnerability, and selflessness foster connections with the divine and provide salvation here on earth. By telling powerful stories of love’s capacity to save, inspire, and heal, Baldwin presents his moral message in a highly persuasive and accessible manner, a fact evidenced by the public’s continuous engagement with his work. Drawing on the writings of Paul Ricoeur and Shoshana Felman, I outline three registers of testimony within Baldwin’s oeuvre – that of “confession,” that of “witnessing,” and that of “prophecy” – and I consider the role each register plays in promoting Baldwin’s philosophy of love. Finally, I close by reading Baldwin alongside the testimonial works of contemporary black creatives such as Kerry James Marshall, Edwidge Danticat, and Barry Jenkins, and I consider whether their uses of testimony might bear insights similar to Baldwin’s.
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