A History of American Puritan Literature

This book will be the field-defining statement on American puritan literature, presenting a clear and accessible introduction to puritan studies in the twenty-first century.

Kristina Bross (Edited by), Abram Van Engen (Edited by)

9781108840033, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 October 2020

384 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 2.4 cm, 0.67 kg

'In a series of masterful, erudite, and original essays, the volume dismantles the seemingly intractable connection many are still inclined to make between the puritans, the birth of the nation, and policy decisions driven by racial, ethnic, and religious animosity. … Each essay offers new angles for scholarship even as it manages to speak to a more general audience of students. By uncovering new voices in the archive and recontextualizing old ones among the diverse others who peopled the puritans' world, A History of American Puritan Literature invaluably reassesses the puritan past without losing sight of the uses to which that past has been put in a series of US presents.' Nan Goodman, American Literary History

For generations, scholars have imagined American puritans as religious enthusiasts, fleeing persecution, finding refuge in Massachusetts, and founding 'America'. The puritans have been read as a product of New England and the origin of American exceptionalism. This History challenges the usual understanding of American puritans, offering new ways of reading their history and their literary culture. Together, an international team of authors make clear that puritan America cannot be thought of apart from Native America, and that its literature is also grounded in Britain, Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and networks that spanned the globe. Each chapter focuses on a single place, method, idea, or context to read familiar texts anew and to introduce forgotten or neglected voices and writings. A History of American Puritan Literature is a collaborative effort to create not a singular literary history, but a series of interlocked new histories of American puritan literature.

Introduction Kristina Bross and Abram Van Engen
Prologue. Pilgrims, puritans, and the origin of America Abram Van Engen
Part I. Places: 1. Native America Drew Lopenzina
2. British Isles David D. Hall
3. Europe Jan Stievermann
4. Colonial North America Evan Haefeli
5. Caribbean Kristina Bross
6. Global America Michelle Burnham
Part II. Approaches: 7. Theology Lisa M. Gordis
8. Aesthetics Joanne van der Woude
9. Gender Tamara Harvey
10. Race Cassander L. Smith
11. Print culture Jonathan Beecher Field
12. Ritual Matthew P. Brown
13. Manuscript culture Meredith Marie Neuman
14. Environment Timothy Sweet
15. Science Ralph Bauer
16. Millennialism Christopher Trigg
17. Postsecularism Bryce Traister
Afterword. The puritan imaginary and the puritans' world Abram Van Engen.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Literary theory [DSA]