Dismembered rhetoric
Book Description
This scholarly exploration reveals how Catholic writers during England's most turbulent religious period wielded the power of language to nurture spiritual transformation. Between 1580 and 1603, when practicing Catholicism carried the threat of persecution and death, devoted authors working through secret presses crafted devotional texts that challenged the era's assumptions about religious communication.
Ceri Sullivan uncovers a forgotten chapter in spiritual literature, examining how figures like Robert Persons, Edmund Campion, and Robert Southwell deliberately employed sophisticated rhetorical techniques to guide readers toward deeper devotion. These writers understood that elegant prose and formal oratory could serve as vehicles for genuine spiritual conversion, transforming casual interest in beautiful language into authentic religious commitment.
The book demonstrates how these clandestine publications reached beyond their intended Catholic audience, influencing readers across religious boundaries and providing inspiration for later literary giants including John Donne and Ben Jonson. Sullivan's analysis reveals how these texts served dual purposes: supporting the broader mission to restore Catholic faith in Britain while fostering personal spiritual awakening in individual readers.
For those interested in the intersection of language and spiritual development, this work illuminates how carefully crafted words can become instruments of inner transformation, showing how devoted writers used their literary skills to kindle genuine devotion in an age of religious upheaval.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Short (< 200 pages) (~5 hours)
📄 Length: 184 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore History and criticism
- ✓ Cultivate devotional practice
- ✓ Explore Catholics
- ✓ Explore Religious aspects of Rhetoric
- ✓ Explore Catholics in literature
- ✓ Explore English language
- ✓ Explore Christian literature, English
- ✓ Explore English prose literature
