The Translation of German Pietist Imagery Into Anglo-American Cultures
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Copyright by Ingrid Goggan Lelos 2009 The Dissertation Committee for Ingrid Goggan Lelos Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Spirit in the Flesh: The Translation of German Pietist Imagery into Anglo-American Cultures Committee: Katherine Arens, Supervisor Julie Sievers, Co-Supervisor Sandy Straubhaar Janet Swaffar Marjorie Woods The Spirit in the Flesh: The Translation of German Pietist Imagery into Anglo-American Cultures by Ingrid Goggan Lelos, B.A.; M.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2009 Dedication for my parents, who inspired intellectual curiosity, for my husband, who nurtured my curiositities, and for my children, who daily renew my curiosities Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to so many who made this project possible. First, I must thank Katie Arens, who always believed in me and faithfully guided me through this journey across centuries and great geographic expanses. It is truly rare to find a dissertation advisor with the expertise and interest to direct a project that begins in medieval Europe and ends in antebellum America. Without her belief in the study of hymns as literature and the convergence of religious and secular discourses this project and its contributions to scholarship would have remained but vague, unarticulated musings. Without Julie Sievers, this project would not have its sharpness of focus or foreground so clearly its scholarly merits, which she so graciously identified. I would like to thank the extraordinary contributions of my committee members Janet Swaffar, Sandra Straubhaar, and Marjorie Woods. Together they formed a critical mass able to fine tune my arguments and ascertain the project’s value. I would also like to thank Moravian scholar Craig Atwood for his ongoing support and interest in my research. Finally I would like to express my gratitude to the Miller Foundation at the University of Texas at Austin for the generous fellowship that supported my research and writing for the academic year 2006-7. v None of this would have been possible without the constant support of my husband, Vasileios Lelos, and mother, Dianne Goggan. They have made all the difference in my life and have inspired the passion and drive necessary to see this project through to its completion. Many thanks go out to my sister, Rachel Goggan, who always showed an interest in my scholarly pursuits and was always willing to listen to my latest discoveries. I would also like to thank Jamie Tackitt, Melissa Silva, and Susan Croom for taking such good care of my young children while I dedicated so many hours to this project. Finally, I thank my children, Pericles and Anastasia, for sharing their mother with Pietist, Methodist, and abolitionist hymns. vi The Spirit in the Flesh: The Translation of German Pietist Imagery into Anglo-American Cultures Publication No._____________ Ingrid Goggan Lelos, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2009 Supervisors: Katherine Arens and Julie Sievers During the Protestant evangelical awakenings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, widely-circulated hymnals carried the message of evangelicals by way of mouth across great periods of time and vast geographic expanses. This study traces the cultural route of specific religious expressions in these hymns as they crossed national, linguistic, ecclesiastic, social, and other cultural barriers to become ubiquitous expressions found in religious, social, and political discourses. More specifically, this dissertation traces the route of fleshly-spiritual imagery in Baroque Lutheran and German Pietist hymns as they traveled to England by way of the Wesleys during the eighteenth-century evangelical revival and eventually surfaced during the Methodist revivals of the Second Great Awakening in nineteenth-century America. Fleshly-spiritual imagery, that concretizes spiritual experience in the human body, expressed a change in religious subjectivity experienced by Protestant revivalists in the period. This imagery captures an epistemological change in progress as individuals took authority from the clergy to commune directly with the Divine and judge the validity of that experience for themselves. vii Rather than framing this work as a study of specific authors or literary movements, I have traced the historical trajectory of a set of discursive practices as they were used by hymn authors, re-written by hymn editors, and often spontaneously re- edited by participants. This discursive approach without regard to authorship and often in absence of standard texts more clearly illuminates the convergence of religious and public rhetoric, an intersection that remains occluded by traditional studies of a single author, genre, literary period, or national literature. viii Table of Contents List of Illustrations .................................................................................................xi Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Transnational Awakenings: Goals of the Present Study............................... 5 Mapping Fleshly-Spiritual Imagery: Project Outline.................................. 11 Reading Fleshly-Spiritualism: Notes on Method........................................ 14 Chapter One: German Pietism and the Origins of Fleshly-Spiritualism.............. 20 Halle Pietism and the Brüdergemeine.......................................................... 22 Pietism and Literature .................................................................................. 30 Frömmigkeitsbewegung: Challenging Lutheran Scholasticism.................. 36 Baroque Lutheran Hymns and Medieval Precedents ................................... 43 Moravian Brethren—Beliefs, Images, Practices.......................................... 54 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 62 Chapter Two: Translating German Language and Imagery into the Wesleyan Hymnody...................................................................................................... 64 English Congregational Song....................................................................... 72 Bridal Mysticism.......................................................................................... 78 “Perceptible Inspiration”.............................................................................. 88 Fleshly Spirituality in Charles Wesley......................................................... 96 Blood and Wounds..................................................................................... 103 Going Public............................................................................................... 109 Chapter Three: The Second Great Awakening and Pious Antislavery Sentiments.................................................................................................. 114 Methodist Hymns Take America ............................................................... 115 The Contents: American Methodist Hymns.............................................. 121 Sentimental Abolitionists and their Hymnals ............................................ 132 Uncle Tom’s Cabin: A Case Study ........................................................... 146 Saints and the Spiritualized Body .............................................................. 155 Conclusions................................................................................................ 161 ix Conclusion........................................................................................................... 167 Appendix of Hymnals ......................................................................................... 180 Bibliography........................................................................................................ 182 VITA ................................................................................................................... 193 x List of Illustrations 1 Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism: A Medley. ………………………… 63 William Hogarth. 1762. xi Introduction . In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main-sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterwards, “Was you not afraid?” He answered, “I thank God, no.” I asked, “But were not your women and children afraid?” He replied mildly, “No; our women and children are not afraid to die.” From them I went to their crying, trembling neighbors, and pointed out to them the difference in the hour of trial, between him that feareth God, and him that feareth him not. At twelve the wind fell. This was the most glorious day which I have hitherto seen. --John Wesley, Journal, January 26, 1736 “The Germans” who had so impressed John Wesley with their unwavering faith were members of the Moravian Brethren, a Pietist group en route to establish the first Moravian community in North America. Although the Moravians failed to establish a lasting settlement in Georgia, this historic trip resulted in a wide and lasting dissemination of German Pietist spirituality expressed in sacred song. On October 14, 1735, John