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The Interpretation of Material Shapes in Puritanism: A Study of Rhetoric, Prejudice, and Violence
Paperback / softback
Main Details
Title |
The Interpretation of Material Shapes in Puritanism: A Study of Rhetoric, Prejudice, and Violence
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Authors and Contributors |
By (author) Ann Kibbey
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Series | Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture |
Physical Properties |
Format:Paperback / softback | Pages:216 | Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152 |
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Category/Genre | Literary studies - c 1500 to c 1800 |
ISBN/Barcode |
9780521107884
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Classifications | Dewey:818.10809 |
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Audience | Professional & Vocational | |
Illustrations |
Worked examples or Exercises
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Publishing Details |
Publisher |
Cambridge University Press
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Imprint |
Cambridge University Press
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Publication Date |
12 February 2009 |
Publication Country |
United Kingdom
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Description
The Interpretation of Material Shapes in Puritanism overturns many of our long-held assumptions about the social and artistic values of Protestantism. Dr Ann Kibbey offers a detailed analysis of the rhetoric of the Puritan plain style, centring her argument on the influential preacher John Cotton and discloses a general theory of figuration in the Protestant tradition that has been overlooked by literary critics, historians and sociologists alike. The author explores the immense variety of ways in which early Protestants in Europe and America granted significance to material shapes. Kibbery finds that in their perception of icons, their use of acoustic design in rhetoric and their interpretations of human beings as physical objects, early Protestants - and especially Puritans - worshipped the figurations of material life as privileged sources of meaning. In this book, Ann Kibbey draws conclusions far wider than her nominal subject, proposing that still-prevalent attitudes toward gender, culture and race were central to the fundamental beliefs of American Puritans.
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