Sacred authorship: Scriptural models for early modern books.
Item
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Title
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Sacred authorship: Scriptural models for early modern books.
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Identifier
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AAI3047227
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identifier
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3047227
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Creator
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Henriksen, Erin Marie.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Barbara Bowen
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Date
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2002
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, English | Religion, Biblical Studies
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Abstract
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"Sacred Authorship: Scriptural Models for Early Modern Books" contends that representations of human authorship in the Bible provided an important set of models for the "self-fashioning" of early modern poets and prose writers. Although information about the literacy of early modern English men and women can be elusive, it is clear that they lived in a culture saturated by the English Bible. This study takes seriously the implications of an active and creative reading of the Bible for the creation of authorial personae, particularly within the context of print culture.;The scriptural culture of the English Reformation invited readers to enter into the texts of the English Bible not only as readers but also as authors. They recognized the complexities of scriptural scenes of writing, such as Moses' inscription of the law (including the first tablets, which he destroys), the collaboration among multiple authors in the Book of Psalms, and the imitation of Christ as an author by the four Evangelists. The intricacies of authorship in these figures---and their perceived authorial partnerships with God---elegantly mirrored the complex circumstances of early print culture.;The dissertation investigates practices of reading and writing often overlooked by modern scholars---such as pseudonymity, collaboration, and imitation---and considers the representation of such forms of authorship within literary texts. The study moves from an analysis of Moses' writing of the law to a discussion of Christ's "unwriting" of this law in the Passion. The major works discussed span from 1599 to 1671 and include Ester Sowernam's Ester hath hang'd Haman (1617), Philip and Mary Sidney's Psalmes (1599), Aemilia Lanyer's Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611) and Milton's Poems (1645), Paradise Lost (1667) and Paradise Regain'd to which is added Samson Agonistes (1671). Readings of these works within the contexts of scriptural authorship demonstrate the variety of authorial strategies for early modern writers of divine poetry and show that English authors often worked in modes of composition that they saw as intimately tied to their subject matter and circumstances of creative production.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
