U.S. History / Media Studies / Religion
Religion and the Culture of Print in Modern America
Edited by Charles L. Cohen and Paul S. Boyer
Print Culture History in Modern America
James P. Danky, Wayne A. Wiegand, and Christine Pawley, Series Editors
“Reveals the tremendous power of print to create communities and sustain assumptions. A fascinating foray into the modern religious worlds made by the word.” —Peter J. Thuesen, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
Mingling God and Mammon, piety and polemics, and prescriptions for this world and the next, modern Americans have created a culture of print that is vibrantly religious. From America’s beginnings, the printed word has played a central role in articulating, propagating, defending, critiquing, and sometimes attacking religious belief. In the last two centuries the United States has become both the leading producer and consumer of print and one of the most identifiably religious nations on earth. Print in every form has helped religious groups come to grips with modernity as they construct their identities. In turn, publishers have profited by swelling their lists with spiritual advice books and scriptures formatted so as to attract every conceivable niche market.
Religion and the Culture of Print in Modern America explores how a variety of print media—religious tracts, newsletters, cartoons, pamphlets, self-help books, mass-market paperbacks, and editions of the Bible from the King James Version to contemporary “Bible-zines”—have shaped and been shaped by experiences of faith since the Civil War. Edited by Charles L. Cohen and Paul S. Boyer, whose comprehensive historical essays provide a broad overview to the topic, this book is the first on the history of religious print culture in modern America and a well-timed entry into the increasingly prominent contemporary debate over the role of religion in American public life.
Charles L. Cohen is professor of history and religious studies and director of the Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic religions at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is the author of God’s Caress: The Psychology of Puritan Religious Experience. Paul S. Boyer is the Merle Curti Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His many books include Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft with Stephen Nissenbaum.
Contributors:
Candy Gunther Brown, Karlyn Crowley, Edward B. Davis, Paul C. Gutjahr, Matthew S. Hedstrom, Gari-Anne Patzwald
Jonathan Z. S. Pollack, James Emmett Ryan, Rennie B. Schoepflin, Erin A. Smith, William, Vance Trollinger Jr., and David J. Whittaker
For more information regarding publicity and reviews contact Chris Caldwell, our publicity manager,
phone: (608) 263-0734, email: publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu
Of related interest
Purity in Print
Book Censorship in America from the Gilded Age to the Computer Age, Second Edition
Paul S. Boyer
May 2008
LC: 2007040160 Z
376 pp. 6 x 9
26 b/w illus.
ISBN-13: 978-0-299-22570-4 Cloth $65.00 s
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Updated January 4 , 2008© 2008, The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
