Nineteenth-century American women writers and theologies of the afterlife a step closer to heaven /
edited by Jennifer McFarlane-Harris and Emily Hamilton-Honey.
- London : Routledge, 2021.
- 1 online resource illustrations (black and white).
This collection analyzes the theme of the "afterlife" as it animated nineteenth-century American women's theology-making and appeals for social justice. Authors like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Martha Finley, Jarena Lee, Maria Stewart, Zilpha Elaw, Rebecca Cox Jackson, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Belinda Marden Pratt, and others wrote to have a voice in the moral debates that were consuming churches and national politics. These texts are expressions of the lives and dynamic minds of women who developed sophisticated, systematic spiritual and textual approaches to the divine, to their denominations or religious traditions, and to the mainstream culture around them. Women do not simply live out theologies authored by men. Rather, Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers and Theologies of the Afterlife: A Step Closer to Heaven is grounded in the radical notion that the theological principles crafted by women and derived from women's experiences, intellectual habits, and organizational capabilities are foundational to American literature itself.
American literature--Women authors--History and criticism. American literature--History and criticism.--19th century Future life in literature. Theology in literature. Women and religion--History--United States--19th century. American literature--African American authors--History and criticism. LITERARY CRITICISM / Women Authors RELIGION / Theology