This essay redefines the task of the reader in light of Christian hope, unfolding how a theology of hope might ground literary criticism. The resulting approach to literature—hopeful reading—considers texts in light of their future becoming in the Kingdom of God. Rather than considering texts as purveyors of hope or possibility for a reader's future, hopeful reading asks critics to non-instrumentally foreground the possibilities in a text's future. The essay explains Christian hope, shows how it might warrant and construct a literary critic's vocation, and offers several extended examples of contemporary critics who seem to be reading hopefully.
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