Religion Around Emily Dickinson

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Christian Literature, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American
Cover of the book Religion Around Emily Dickinson by W. Clark Gilpin, Penn State University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: W. Clark Gilpin ISBN: 9780271066134
Publisher: Penn State University Press Publication: November 6, 2014
Imprint: Penn State University Press Language: English
Author: W. Clark Gilpin
ISBN: 9780271066134
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Publication: November 6, 2014
Imprint: Penn State University Press
Language: English

Religion Around Emily Dickinson begins with a seeming paradox posed by Dickinson’s posthumously published works: while her poems and letters contain many explicitly religious themes and concepts, throughout her life she resisted joining her local church and rarely attended services. Prompted by this paradox, W. Clark Gilpin proposes, first, that understanding the religious aspect of the surrounding culture enhances our appreciation of Emily Dickinson’s poetry and, second, that her poetry casts light on features of religion in nineteenth-century America that might otherwise escape our attention. Religion, especially Protestant Christianity, was “around” Emily Dickinson not only in explicitly religious practices, literature, architecture, and ideas but also as an embedded influence on normative patterns of social organization in the era, including gender roles, education, and ideals of personal intimacy and fulfillment. Through her poetry, Dickinson imaginatively reshaped this richly textured religious inheritance to create her own personal perspective on what it might mean to be religious in the nineteenth century. The artistry of her poetry and the profundity of her thought have meant that this personal perspective proved to be far more than “merely” personal. Instead, Dickinson’s creative engagement with the religion around her has stimulated and challenged successive generations of readers in the United States and around the world.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Religion Around Emily Dickinson begins with a seeming paradox posed by Dickinson’s posthumously published works: while her poems and letters contain many explicitly religious themes and concepts, throughout her life she resisted joining her local church and rarely attended services. Prompted by this paradox, W. Clark Gilpin proposes, first, that understanding the religious aspect of the surrounding culture enhances our appreciation of Emily Dickinson’s poetry and, second, that her poetry casts light on features of religion in nineteenth-century America that might otherwise escape our attention. Religion, especially Protestant Christianity, was “around” Emily Dickinson not only in explicitly religious practices, literature, architecture, and ideas but also as an embedded influence on normative patterns of social organization in the era, including gender roles, education, and ideals of personal intimacy and fulfillment. Through her poetry, Dickinson imaginatively reshaped this richly textured religious inheritance to create her own personal perspective on what it might mean to be religious in the nineteenth century. The artistry of her poetry and the profundity of her thought have meant that this personal perspective proved to be far more than “merely” personal. Instead, Dickinson’s creative engagement with the religion around her has stimulated and challenged successive generations of readers in the United States and around the world.

More books from Penn State University Press

Cover of the book Animating Empire by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Here and There by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Public Forgetting by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Venezuela Before Chávez by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Plowshares by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Poe and the Visual Arts by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Seditious Allegories by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Buying Baroque by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book The Spirit of Praise by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book The Platonic Political Art by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book The Chankas and the Priest by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book The Illusion of Civil Society by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Kant and the Promise of Rhetoric by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book David Hume by W. Clark Gilpin
Cover of the book Argentina's Radical Party and Popular Mobilization, 1916–1930 by W. Clark Gilpin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy