Book contents
- Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel
- Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Appendixes
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Rethinking the Secular at the Origins of the English Novel
- Part II Versions of Biblical Authority
- Part III Uses of Scripture for Fiction
- Appendices
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 March 2021
Book contents
- Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel
- Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Appendixes
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Rethinking the Secular at the Origins of the English Novel
- Part II Versions of Biblical Authority
- Part III Uses of Scripture for Fiction
- Appendices
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
A short, literary history of secularization might go something like this: once upon a time, the people of Europe read the Bible. Then, in the year 1700, Enlightenment dawned, and the people put down their Bibles. They began to read novels instead.
But this story is getting harder to believe.
Its simplicity will raise suspicions for some. It presumes too much uniformity among Europeans, an Enlightenment too neatly opposed to religion, and a Europe untouched by its interactions with the rest of the world. What constitutes a people or a cultural formation is far more complicated, far more contested, then as now.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Rethinking the Secular Origins of the NovelThe Bible in English Fiction 1678–1767, pp. 1 - 12Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021