The Language of Canaan: Metaphor and Symbol in New England from the Puritans to the Transcendentalists

Mason I. Lowance, Jr.

Published by Harvard University Press 1980

The Language of Canaan

Metaphor and Symbol in New England from the Puritans to the Transcendentalists

Mason I. Lowance, Jr.

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674431140

Overview
Contents

About this book

This is a study of New England figurative language from 1600 to 1850, from the English and Continental origins of Puritanism to the symbolic writings of Thoreau. It enriches our understanding of Puritan thought and expression and traces the influence of Puritanism on later American writing.

A common link among the writers of this period was a system of prophetic symbolism derived from Scripture. The Bible was the source of figures and types used to illustrate divine guidance in human affairs, and its prophetic language provided the Puritans with a method for explaining and projecting the course of history. Lowance explores these modes of prophetic and metaphorical expression and the millennial impulse in American thinking. In the process he provides a cohesive approach to such diverse writers as Bradford, Cotton, Taylor, Increase and Cotton Mather, Edwards, Freneau, Barlow, Dwight, and Emerson. His book will be welcomed by all students of early American thought and literature.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
I. The Beginnings of Figural Expression
1. MEDIEVAL AND REFORMATION BACKGROUNDS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
2. THE PURITAN FIGURAL IMAGINATION AND THE LANGUAGE OF CANAAN Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
3. THE CANTICLES TRADITION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
II. Figuralism in Late Seventeenth Century New England
4. SAMUEL MATHER: FIGURES, TYPES, AND ALLEGORIES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
5. TAYLOR'S MEDITATIONS AND SERMONS AND THE PERSONALIZING OF THE BIBLICAL FIGURES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
III. Recapitulative Typology and Eschatology
6. THE SHAPING OF THE FUTURE: ESCHATOLOGICAL SYMBOLISM IN OLD AND NEW ENGLAND DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
7. COTTON MATHER'S MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA, "BIBLIA AMERICANA," AND THE METAPHORS OF BIBLICAL HISTORY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
8. JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE GREAT AWAKENING Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	178
9. JOEL BARLOW AND THE RISING GLORY OF AMERICA Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
IV. Epistemology and the Biblical Symbol from the Great Awakening to the American Renaissance
10. JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
11. FROM EDWARDS TO EMERSON AND THOREAU: A REVALUATION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	329

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 335
Keywords: RELIGION / Biblical Reference / Language Study; LITERARY CRITICISM / General

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674431140

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1980
ISBN: 9780674431133