Dissenting Writing

Seager, Nicholas

Abstract

Dissenters contributed to religio-political controversy, publicly debating doctrinal, ecclesiological, and constitutional topics. They wrote in private genres intended for limited circulation, including diaries and letters. Their instructional writing encompasses practical divinity, biblical exposition, children’s books, history, and sermons. Predictably for an embattled subculture, dissenting writing is often commemorative, which manifests in eulogies, wills, and epitaphs that speak to collective as well as personal memory. The same applies to life-writing, especially the celebrated but formally and theologically diverse examples of Grace Abeounding, Reliquiae Baxterianae, and Fox’s Journal. Fictions like The Pilgrim’s Progress relate to longer literary traditions even as they capture historical attitudes distinctive to Restoration dissent. This chapter contextualizes features of dissenting prose style, demonstrates prose’s role in forging collective and personal identities, and points to the larger consequences of the literary culture of Restoration nonconformity.

Citation

Seager, N. Dissenting Writing. In The Oxford Handbook of English Prose, 1640-1714 (230-249). Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198746843.013.15

• Online Publication Date: Jan 23, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 10, 2025
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Pages: 230-249
• Book Title: The Oxford Handbook of English Prose, 1640-1714
• Chapter Number: 13
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198746843.013.15
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1073153
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/59476/chapter-abstract/501379109?redirectedFrom=fulltext