
Writing Beyond Prophecy
Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville After the American Renaissance
Martin Kevorkian(Author)
Louisiana State University Press
Will be published approx. on 30. January 2013
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-0-8071-4760-3 (ISBN)
Description
Writing beyond Prophecy offers a new interpretation of the American Renaissance by drawing attention to a cluster of later, rarely studied works by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. Identifying a line of writing from Emerson's Conduct of Life to Hawthorne's posthumously published Elixir of Life manuscript to Melville's Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land, Martin Kevorkian demonstrates how these authors wrestled with their vocational calling.
Early in their careers, these three authors positioned their literary pursuits as an alternative to the ministry. By presenting a ""new revelation"" and a new set of ""gospels"" for the nineteenth century, they sought to usurp the authority of the pulpit. Later in life, each writer came to recognize the audacity of his earlier work, creating what Kevorkian characterizes as a literary aftermath. Strikingly, each author later wrote about the character of a young divinity student torn by a crisis of faith and vocation. Writing beyond Prophecy gives a distinctive shape to the late careers of Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville and offers a cohesive account of the lingering religious devotion left in the wake of American Romanticism.
Early in their careers, these three authors positioned their literary pursuits as an alternative to the ministry. By presenting a ""new revelation"" and a new set of ""gospels"" for the nineteenth century, they sought to usurp the authority of the pulpit. Later in life, each writer came to recognize the audacity of his earlier work, creating what Kevorkian characterizes as a literary aftermath. Strikingly, each author later wrote about the character of a young divinity student torn by a crisis of faith and vocation. Writing beyond Prophecy gives a distinctive shape to the late careers of Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville and offers a cohesive account of the lingering religious devotion left in the wake of American Romanticism.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baton Rouge
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8071-4760-3 (9780807147603)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Martin Kevorkian
Writing beyond Prophecy
Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville after the American Renaissance
E-Book
01/2013
1st Edition
LSU Press
€90.29
Available for download

Martin Kevorkian
Writing beyond Prophecy
Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville after the American Renaissance
E-Book
01/2013
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Martin Kevorkian is an associate professor of English and associate department chair at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of Color Monitors: The Black Face of Technology in America as well as articles on Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville.