Novel Reading and Insanity': Nineteenth-Century Quaker Fiction Reading Practices
Standard histories of nineteenth-century Quakerism note that fiction reading was prohibited or strongly discouraged in the Religious Society of Friends, and multiple public documents from the period indicate that pronouncements against reading fiction, especially for young people, were ubiquitous un...
| Published in: | Quaker studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Liverpool University Press
[2018]
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| In: |
Quaker studies
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| RelBib Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBF British Isles KDG Free church |
| Further subjects: | B
Friends Book Society of Birmingham
B reading societies B fiction reading B reading practices B Manchester Friends Institute B Information Technology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Standard histories of nineteenth-century Quakerism note that fiction reading was prohibited or strongly discouraged in the Religious Society of Friends, and multiple public documents from the period indicate that pronouncements against reading fiction, especially for young people, were ubiquitous until almost the end of the century. However, records found in minutes kept by Quaker-only reading groups or in the library holdings of Quaker reading societies show that, in private or semi-private settings, Quakers were regularly acquiring fiction as early as the 1820s. Through an examination of some of these records and the histories of some Quaker reading groups, this article complicates our historical understanding of how the Religious Society of Friends adapted to a new information technology, engaging a powerful tension between their testimony of integrity and their belief in continuing revelation. |
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| ISSN: | 2397-1770 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Quaker studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3828/quaker.2018.23.1.2 |