Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Religion, and the Search for Grace explores selected texts by four major American authors: Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sojourner Truth, and Kate Chopin.
This monograph presents a nuanced analysis of the relationship between these authors and religion. While they critique organized religion and challenge the premise of doctrine and the restrictiveness of religious practice, they also depict mercy, redemption, and renewal beyond church walls-offering a lens for considering the American sociopolitical identity. In this study, Ostman relies on the parables of Jesus as a compelling tool to frame these authors' religious visions, which drew their sense of hope from loss and brokenness. She highlights the remarkable timeline in which the four writers depicted these visions of hope, shared during the years leading up to and through the Civil War (1861-1865). At a time when many other authors made comparisons to the Apocalypse, Whitman, Hawthorne, Truth, and Chopin evinced visions of hope through new religious interpretations.
This volume is a valuable resource for postgraduate students and scholars of American literature, religious studies, and Christian thought.
| ISBN: | 9781032688763 |
| Publication date: | 31st December 2025 |
| Author: | Heather Ostman |
| Publisher: | Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 228 pages |
| Series: | Routledge Research in American Literature and Culture |
| Genres: |
Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 Religion: general |
Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Religion, and the Search for Grace explores selected texts by four major American authors: Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sojourner Truth, and Kate Chopin.
This monograph presents a nuanced analysis of the relationship between these authors and religion. While they critique organized religion and challenge the premise of doctrine and the restrictiveness of religious practice, they also depict mercy, redemption, and renewal beyond church walls-offering a lens for considering the American sociopolitical identity. In this study, Ostman relies on the parables of Jesus as a compelling tool to frame these authors' religious visions, which drew their sense of hope from loss and brokenness. She highlights the remarkable timeline in which the four writers depicted these visions of hope, shared during the years leading up to and through the Civil War (1861-1865). At a time when many other authors made comparisons to the Apocalypse, Whitman, Hawthorne, Truth, and Chopin evinced visions of hope through new religious interpretations.
This volume is a valuable resource for postgraduate students and scholars of American literature, religious studies, and Christian thought.
Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Religion, and the Search for Grace features in the following genres: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Religion: general
Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Religion, and the Search for Grace is available in Hardback
Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Religion, and the Search for Grace was written by Heather Ostman and published by Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis
Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Religion, and the Search for Grace has 228 pages
Yes it is part of Routledge Research in American Literature and Culture series
£154.79