Sinclair Lewis's Elmer Gantry: A Study of the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
Sinclair Lewis's Elmer Gantry (1927) is a novel famous for its eponymous anti-hero. It received widespread criticism upon its release from America's clergy and their congregations for its characterization of Elmer himself and for its associated representation of his religious practices and...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Johns Hopkins University Press
2023
|
In: |
Christianity & literature
Year: 2023, Volume: 72, Issue: 1, Pages: 34-52 |
IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBQ North America |
Further subjects: | B
Sinclair Lewis
B Fundamentalism B Naturalism B Evangelicalism B Liberalism |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | Sinclair Lewis's Elmer Gantry (1927) is a novel famous for its eponymous anti-hero. It received widespread criticism upon its release from America's clergy and their congregations for its characterization of Elmer himself and for its associated representation of his religious practices and beliefs. Indeed, this critical reception of Elmer Gantry has almost become a codified interpretation of the novel. This interpretation, however, is incorrect. Elmer Gantry is not a novel that ridicules Christianity. Drawing from the battle between theological conservatism and liberalism, it reveals the complexity of American belief at the turn of the twentieth century in surprisingly sensitive ways. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 2056-5666 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/chy.2023.0002 |