Funded Projects Query Form
One match

The Altar at Home: Sentimentalism and Religion in the American Nineteenth Century examines the engagement of literary sentimentalism in American religious discourse and life of the nineteenth century. A widely popular literary movement of the mid-century, sentimentalism narrated for young female readers the benefits of devout Christian piety, and this book project examines the specific doctrinal contexts that underlay the religious ideals, practices, and beliefs advocated by sentimental writers. An NEH Summer Stipend would support, in particular, the writing of this book's fourth chapter, which argues that the hymn was a central genre of literary sentimentalism, one favored by such major writers as Alcott, Sigourney, and Stowe. By examining how these hymns evidence the explicit religious engagement, aspirations, and reach of sentimental writers, this chapter seeks to restore this devotional form to its rightful place in the sentimental canon.