In the mid-seventeenth century, persons on both sides of the Atlantic wishing to join a Puritan church had to appear before all of its members and tell the story of their religious conversion - in effect, to give convincing verbal evidence that their souls were saved. New England's Puritans widely adopted this practice, and in this book Patricia Caldwell attempts to unravel the mystery of this procedure by viewing it as a literary phenomenon that met the special imaginative and expressive needs of troubled people in a time of great turmoil.
In the first comparative reading of conversion stories as literary expression, Caldwell shows that these symbolic and deeply religious narratives represent 'the first faint murmurings of a truly American voice'.
| ISBN: | 9780521311472 |
| Publication date: | 29th November 1985 |
| Author: | Patricia Caldwell |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 224 pages |
| Series: | Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture |
| Genres: |
Literary studies: general |
In the mid-seventeenth century, persons on both sides of the Atlantic wishing to join a Puritan church had to appear before all of its members and tell the story of their religious conversion - in effect, to give convincing verbal evidence that their souls were saved. New England's Puritans widely adopted this practice, and in this book Patricia Caldwell attempts to unravel the mystery of this procedure by viewing it as a literary phenomenon that met the special imaginative and expressive needs of troubled people in a time of great turmoil.
The Puritan Conversion Narrative features in the following genres: Literary studies: general
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
The Puritan Conversion Narrative was written by Patricia Caldwell and published by Cambridge University Press
The Puritan Conversion Narrative has 224 pages
Yes it is part of Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture series