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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2021

Kevin Seidel
Affiliation:
Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia
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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 Novel
The Bible in English Fiction 1678–1767
, pp. 1 - 12
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Introduction
  • Kevin Seidel, Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia
  • Book: Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel
  • Online publication: 16 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108867290.001
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  • Introduction
  • Kevin Seidel, Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia
  • Book: Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel
  • Online publication: 16 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108867290.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Kevin Seidel, Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia
  • Book: Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel
  • Online publication: 16 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108867290.001
Available formats
×