The eagle and the dove: constructing Catholic identity through word and image in nineteenth-century United States
In nineteenth-century United States the subject of Catholic devotional practices figured prominently in anti-Catholic polemical literature. To combat anti-Catholic sentiment the editors and illustrators of Catholic popular literature recast devotional practices through the lens of the Enlightenment...
| Published in: | Material religion |
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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: |
Taylor & Francis
[2008]
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| In: |
Material religion
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| Further subjects: | B
Catholic
B American Catholic identity B Catholic symbols B Catholic relics B Catholicism B American Religious History B Relics |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | In nineteenth-century United States the subject of Catholic devotional practices figured prominently in anti-Catholic polemical literature. To combat anti-Catholic sentiment the editors and illustrators of Catholic popular literature recast devotional practices through the lens of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution. Through images and narrative these authors forged connections between Catholic rituals and American practices of civil religion like the observance of national holidays and the veneration of the American flag. By recasting the practices like the veneration of relics, the lives of saints and devotions within the framework of an American civil religion, Catholics claimed that Americans engaged in similar practices and rituals. In this way Catholics naturalized their dogmas and interpreted them within a framework familiar to non-Catholic Americans, thus countering claims by detractors that they were superstitious and idolatrous. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Material religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2752/175183408X376674 |