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By: David G. - July 03, 2008
Happy Independence Day. Here’s a discourse given by George A. Smith on the fourth in 1854. Remember that at this time the Saints are struggling with the federal government over the right to self government. Notice how Smith negotiates in his narration his commitment to both an American identity and a Mormon identity.
George A. Smith, “Celebration of the Fourth of July,” July 4, 1854, Journal of Discourses, 6: 364-67.
Gentlemen and Ladies-Fellow-Citizens,-I arise here to address you a few moments upon a subject which has, perhaps, been worn threadbare by orators, statesmen, and divines, for the last seventy years, in the minds of a great portion of (more…)
By: matt b. - July 02, 2008
This is, quite simply, the single most extensive canvass of American religious life ever achieved. (more…)
By: Ben - July 02, 2008
Literary scholar Lawrence Buell, in his excellent New England Literary Culture, explored one of the most important ideas related to the antebellum Romantic thinkers–an idea that he defines as “literary scripturism.” (more…)
By: Janiece - July 01, 2008
In It Does Not Die, Maitreyi Devi wrote a “she said” to Mircea Elidae’s Bengal Nights, the “he said” semi-autobiographical account of his time in 1930s Calcutta and his relationship with Devi.[1] Unsurprisingly, Devi offered a very different version of events in her narrative. Academia (and even Oprah thanks to James Frey) has long debated the definition of memoir and its highly subjective nature. A comparison of It Does Not Die and Bengal Nights provides many aspects for analysis of events personally subjective and emotive while grounded in history. Can scholarship ever overcome personal opinion or reaction in highly emotionally charged historical events? (more…)
By: Stan - June 30, 2008
Bruce Jorgensen is looking for submissions for this year’s Mormon Letters session at RMMLA–a great opportunity to present at a conference, especially for anyone doing stuff in Mormon literature or film. I’ve posted Jorgensen’s CFP and submission details below:
For about three decades, since shortly after its organization, AML has had a “conjoint” or (now) “affiliated” session at the annual Convention of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association. This year, as of the program deadline for the RMMLA Convention, no program for the AML session had been filed. With permission from the RMMLA Secretariat, I’m attempting a rescue mission with this rather belated call for papers.
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By: matt b. - June 30, 2008
We at the JI are honored to host the esteemable Janiece Johnson for the next couple of weeks.
In her own words, Janiece’s biography relevant to this blog can be measured out in “BYU, BYU, Vandy, the U,” corresponding roughly to “poli-sci, history, theology, history.” She’s currently PhD’ing in the University of Utah’s history department and writing a dissertation that will resolve everybody’s questions about the Mountain Meadows Massacre in a satisfying and logical way. If we are all particularly lucky, perhaps she will have something further to say about that.
Welcome, Janiece!
By: David G. - June 30, 2008
Please welcome out latest grad student acquisition, Edje, who after two weeks of guestblogging is now joining us permanently. See here for his bio. (more…)
By: Edje - June 30, 2008
Thank goodness for laptops and wireless internet. For this post I had to dress my young, whippersnapping self as a black stew-pot and climb onto a very high horse. Balancing a desktop would have been nigh impossible, especially with all the kettles watching. This pot is stewing a rant (with a soupçon of rave) on some basic number sense (more…)
By: Stan - June 28, 2008
Tradition has it that Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, co-founder of the well-known Theosophical Society, had wanted to travel to Nauvoo to see the Mormons but was unable to do so due to their expulsion from the state of Illinois shortly before she arrived in the U.S. [1]. Though such a visit unfortunately never materialized (it could have been an encounter to rival Joseph Smith’s interview with the prophet Matthias in its historical delectability), tradition also has it that she did pass through Salt Lake City in the early 1850s, (more…)
By: David G. - June 27, 2008
No time for a real post dealing with the martyrdom today, but here’s ERS’s memorial of Joseph Smith’s death. (more…)
By: Edje - June 25, 2008
Introduction
Last year, Ronan posted a bit called “Making Adjustments” at By Common Consent (here, with useful comments all the way to the end) that hashed out some of the issues with and hermeneutical strategies for bringing together revealed and scholarly understandings. (See also: Joel’s post from Friday.) The Gold Plates’ putative chemical composition provides an example of revealed-subsequently canonized-language “adjusting.” [1] Joseph Smith-History 1:34, quotes Moroni, an angel, as saying “there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent.” Does “gold” mean “100% pure, elemental gold,” a gold-based alloy, or a color? [2] How much could such plates plausibly weigh?
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By: Heidi - June 24, 2008
(Continued from here)
In 1890 there were only four documented “persons of Japanese ancestry” in the entire territory of Utah. Contrasted with the Chinese, Utahns had no contact whatsoever with a significant Japanese population. Subsequently, the Japanese were easily romanticized, especially in light of the glowing reports from National newspapers about Japan’s westernization and generous trade agreements. (more…)
By: Heidi - June 23, 2008
Since we’ve been posting a bit on race topics, I thought this would be a good time to contribute selections from my Joseph Smith Seminar 2007 paper entitled “Another Other: Asian Race and LDS Theological Change 1880-1930.” Just as a note, I only chose to analyze perceptions of the Chinese and Japanese because those “races” had more sources to work from for the period I was interested in. However, I think a further inquiry into Korean, Southeast Asian, Mongolian, and South Asian perceptions would be helpful and fascinating. The sources are out there, the work just needs to be done.
Browsing through library databases and catalogues today, it is difficult to find even a handful of hits on Mormonism and Asian Race. Even Armand Mauss’ recent sweeping study, All Abraham’s Children, notably omits any specific inquiry on the subject, though h (more…)
By: Joel - June 20, 2008
(Before commenting on this post I would ask that you read the entire post. The point of this essay is to promote civil discussion and dialogue. Extreme polemics and ad hominem attacks are not helpful for any discussion. Be careful how you use and define labels. The following comments are offered in the spirit of understanding-I hope that our readers will participate in the same spirit. Please think before you write.) (more…)
By: Edje - June 18, 2008
White, Protestant America’s nineteenth century frontier mythology—as most characteristically emblematized in the western—helped define the American character and justify the violent exploitation of the American West by Anglo-Americans. In the last three decades of the 1800s, many observers, Frederick Jackson Turner among them, worried that the frontier was closing and with it the source of America’s greatness, as they supposed. Since Mormons were part of the West, a change in how people imagined the West influenced how they imagined Mormons. (more…)
By: David G. - June 16, 2008
The language of martyrdom and persecution provided Latter-day Saints the linguistic tools by which they could reverse the power relations as they had been defined by the Missourians and Illinoisans. Mormon opponents were successful in expelling the Latter-day Saints from both Missouri and Illinois, prosecuting and imprisoning Mormon leaders for crimes, all while avoiding legal sanctions for non-Mormon vigilantes. Mormon authors were well aware of these inequalities, leading them to imagine a time when God would vindicate their people. (more…)
By: Edje - June 16, 2008
According to the about section, The Juvenile Instructor seeks to “situate the study of Mormonism within wider frameworks, including American religious history, western history, gender history, and, on occasion, the history of the Republic of South Africa.” A Google site search for “South Africa” reveals that RSA posts in JI’s archives are slimmer than a protea’s petal or a springbok’s ankle. Thus, for my first post, I’ll make a small contribution to JI’s South African historiography.
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By: Christopher - June 15, 2008
Please join the Juvenile Instructor in welcoming Edje as the newest guest blogger to the JI. Edje is a regular commenter here at JI (and other sites around the ‘nacle), and is, like the rest of us here (except for ol’ man Taysom), a grad student in history. Here is what he has to say about himself: (more…)
By: matt b. - June 15, 2008
There is no date, though a bit of research reveals that this hymnal was published in 1909. (more…)
By: Stan - June 13, 2008
In the Tanner Lecture at MHA this year, Philip Jenkins noted the substantial growth of Mormonism in Africa and asked the question: Why hasn’t it done better? (more…)
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