World Religions and the College Girl: Secularism and New Womanhood in Elizabeth W. Champney's Three Vassar Girls Series
This essay explores the intersections of religion, secularism, and feminism in the popular Three Vassar Girls series, written by Elizabeth W. Champney between 1882 and 1892. I argue that these novels illuminate the manner in which secular New Womanhood was configured in the context of the emerging s...
| Published in: | Religion & literature |
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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: |
Dep.
2022
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| In: |
Religion & literature
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This essay explores the intersections of religion, secularism, and feminism in the popular Three Vassar Girls series, written by Elizabeth W. Champney between 1882 and 1892. I argue that these novels illuminate the manner in which secular New Womanhood was configured in the context of the emerging science of world religions. That Champney's Vassar Girls participate in the construction of this world religions discourse is, in itself, notable, but more significant is the manner in which their comparative religious study is tied to their feminism. For the Vassar Girls, examining others' religious beliefs and practices ultimately confirms the universality of the liberal Protestant Christianity to which they subscribe. The women's Protestant spirituality - personal, transcendent, concerned with essences not things - informs and warrants their emancipation as women; through religious experience, the women feel called to lives of service, professional achievement, and independence. Their emancipation in turn serves to validate their belief in their own nondoctrinal Protestantism as the single universal, world religion. The Three Vassar Girls series allows us to see one way in which secular feminism was configured at the close of the nineteenth century, through an emerging world religions discourse that celebrated pluralism while presuming liberal Protestant spirituality. This essay aims to recover the work of a neglected, prolific writer of adolescent literature and to bridge important conversations taking place in Religious Studies and U.S. Literary Studies regarding secularism, the origins of Religious Studies, and women writer's engagement with religion. |
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| ISSN: | 2328-6911 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & literature
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