20thcentury a-wild-sheep-chase absurdist absurdity academia academic adventure african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation alternate-reality american-christianity american-dream american-history american-literature anti-intellectualism assimilation atmospheric betrayal bible biblical-interpretation biblical-studies bildungsroman black-culture black-experience black-identity blindness brotherhood christian-culture christian-education christian-faith christian-history christian-intellectuals christian-scholarship christian-theology christian-thought christian-worldview christianity christianity-and-culture church church-history civil-rights civil-rights-movement coming-of-age conformity contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature critical-thinking criticism critique cultural-criticism cultural-critique cultural-engagement culture dark-comedy dark-humor destiny detective detective-fiction detective-story discrimination disillusionment dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia education enigmatic enlightenment evangelical evangelical-christianity evangelical-church evangelical-culture evangelical-mind evangelical-movement evangelical-thought evangelicalism evangelicals existential existentialism faith faith-and-reason fantasy fate fiction folklore freedom friendship fundamentalism general harlem harlem-renaissance haruki-murakami higher-education history identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality intellect intellectual intellectual-history intellectual-life intellectualism introspection introspective invisibility invisible invisible-man isolation japan japanese-literature jazz journey knowledge literary-fiction literarycriticism literarymovements literature loneliness love love-story magic-realism magical-realism mark-a.-noll metaphysical mind mind-bending miscellaneous modern-classic modernity murakami mystery mythology novel obsession oppression parallel-universe parallel-worlds personal-freedom philosophical philosophy politics postmodern postmodernism power power-dynamics prejudice proseliterature protagonist protest protestantism psychological quest race racism ralph-ellison reason reformation religion religious-beliefs religious-education religious-history religious-identity religious-scholarship religious-studies religious-thought romance scandal scholarship science secularism segregation self-discovery sheep social-commentary social-inequality social-injustice social-justice society southern-united-states spirituality stereotypes supernatural surreal surrealism symbolic symbolism the-scandal-of-the-evangelical-mind theology thought tokyo transformation unconventional underground urban urban-fantasy