Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Religion, and the Search for Grace

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-68876-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 196 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Reihe: Routledge Research in American Literature and Culture

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 an acute and 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.

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Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ostman, Heather

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur Amerikanische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Strömungen & Epochen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1. Nineteenth-Century America, Literature, and the Search for Grace Chapter 2. Whitman and the Politics of Mysticism Chapter 3. Hester as New Religion in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter  Chapter 4. Narrative of Sojourner Truth and the Personal Relationship with Divinity  Chapter 5. Kate Chopin’s Religious Vision in At Fault Chapter 6. Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Heather Ostman, Ph.D., is a professor of English, Humanities Curriculum Chair, and Humanities Institute Director at SUNY Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY. She has previously taught at Vassar College and Fordham University. Dr Ostman is the author of six books and she is the editor of five essay collections. In 2024–2025, she served as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. Her work has been supported by two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as funding from the American Council of Learned Societies and the New York Council for the Humanities. She serves as president of the Kate Chopin International Society.