Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Fictions of Conversion: Jews, Christians, and Cultures of Change in Early Modern England
Fictions of Conversion: Jews, Christians, and Cultures of Change in Early Modern England
Fictions of Conversion: Jews, Christians, and Cultures of Change in Early Modern England
Ebook426 pages6 hours

Fictions of Conversion: Jews, Christians, and Cultures of Change in Early Modern England

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

The fraught history of England's Long Reformation is a convoluted if familiar story: in the space of twenty-five years, England changed religious identity three times. In 1534 England broke from the papacy with the Act of Supremacy that made Henry VIII head of the church; nineteen years later the act was overturned by his daughter Mary, only to be reinstated at the ascension of her half-sister Elizabeth. Buffeted by political and confessional cross-currents, the English discovered that conversion was by no means a finite, discrete process. In Fictions of Conversion, Jeffrey S. Shoulson argues that the vagaries of religious conversion were more readily negotiated when they were projected onto an alien identity—one of which the potential for transformation offered both promise and peril but which could be kept distinct from the emerging identity of Englishness: the Jew.

Early modern Englishmen and -women would have recognized an uncannily familiar religious chameleon in the figure of the Jewish converso, whose economic, social, and political circumstances required religious conversion, conformity, or counterfeiting. Shoulson explores this distinctly English interest in the Jews who had been exiled from their midst nearly three hundred years earlier, contending that while Jews held out the tantalizing possibility of redemption through conversion, the trajectory of falling in and out of divine favor could be seen to anticipate the more recent trajectory of England's uncertain path of reformation. In translations such as the King James Bible and Chapman's Homer, dramas by Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson, and poetry by Donne, Vaughan, and Milton, conversion appears as a cypher for and catalyst of other transformations—translation, alchemy, and the suspect religious enthusiasm of the convert—that preoccupy early modern English cultures of change.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 21, 2013
ISBN9780812208191
Fictions of Conversion: Jews, Christians, and Cultures of Change in Early Modern England

Related to Fictions of Conversion

Related ebooks

Comparative Religion For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Fictions of Conversion

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Fictions of Conversion - Jeffrey S. Shoulson

    X+Nabook_preview_excerpt.html}˒Fݯ@YYdY|hV,&6G 2* [O%Df[&u+3_sڡհ^ Z}|[rɳO4>^ux?Ub7aj]/?^4^osWm_}T?/å\ٌT\V7aȏ>?Vz7\?^}M՗_?o/il_'o_SSrK {>;׷z%Kϻ7C%o._0Uac7O09%|Ox~w?VP[ʪi׆j= ޝơk'x_OyձRSui}u <8^ڰe""Nڵk|wصn߽꣫xIx9Koᇃn,rlIwJۍH|Ƕvlms!L"rww'U:ꅛ\7l~{|M a9׺󕛸Ɠ $ͧT}^=yr>x'#g}3D][i@K7N*"[aó c0MX|h թ+8ZD88UiQt(yYT1 KfE@xO+Zs5&ںjݏ"B φL:m5wnUh%I\f:9a % W9@"7 6s_q,Qa8x m[؍lP,,VnIA Vd@73DuLN(+,,<#( %7hG"^ӆQ8`!YꐙfģyDi<7T+l"| Xh%|OދzG(jHHUͭC'gfk!._`7W73jWMS(= bU'4vj."˷~\g"i?eg W>̲[tw\>"YyYqT5v~ۆ  SB{kó[e {R)!s.E*Zga]V&x]F, є dʉ<!P"B^ ~= ̞FFl(k|;D=m ܸ Z$p1ϼ2f8̿ +p:!)[,ٰ3т;rY4JG1 0ԍ8vA3ɮJNtEG:jB'<9qE@?uCkH6ʲmUIМ";`QDts I@W 0٫ ap@weP]{ 弜N"Gmd7p-lPp)ʼn4AhXwZbafrRPZ(9e,LQnSͯHs Z[vm?SX8%V$C.T<&bA@H8K]yb)D~џ,|i@fp=y ưU[hl! X ^v sq". 6`+w9K:ۙ" kiSe!0!"Ѣ%rͭU>7"'qD!> mB.'I'K/#O{E !u;W!q5 {NRPkoQCW)Yw]BinN#=iӎBQ1MfEN)XC l8^f?61m0|ra MxѽOb@{p޺Uqȶ6*PܝF8U?Ĩm0]tM.@}hIBO DPФNrhWoy0)ƦB- _a!4ȅЈ 'C}6Kvf c_0˷VGspĈd=YwW[HȈ,=I߹""F^ZiİɬHG9(s @^Sֈ`<%V&;rcȋX<uP P2tVb-0B<LM'tbg J|J@ atIw!ȳ#S~c5n+_8g 1|hv!$=+x> X?2XcWW cr4\9({ ng ҈579z*9PqA~] lѽWk? ZA? x=Bڥ\\6?SFI NtLS2 ` NFp60z>nwGl'IR:cHWm? ͉Tzng(#(8qTO4LqpڑŖBp*Q w̌$]3⛪cP8u9W氆5E׾ƣފ6_O @n=E?_ˡqk%b΢Ȋ`_]إw TZY13L`H!Vl"O&yCi@[ ̉xbcL5p!3M & "!Vj]I+H0VNE<4J,\$zUT>+ !ELUn 2»1mnԕ{oSuI}Gí_3sH܈, [012 l zP,q)!'Rkhl`!b_ LY{Sv>Ss]1g?"ɛX[}+ t|l:hXy5lZFZmyJa^/nh$RQ1dzA`(躡r`C[_߯b/<=t;j6I~?mz8 F(Iu-| r E)2/';2ԵޒŠz4ݲ'ij'⁔+ C5 dx ܦɭ8n8iP*"UF,406nY]S_@qpfҎVE-B=`ἝA؉bsW:- jPe}SIe,0]R&BROEhsշ꽤mYȂ$ j˔&Н{{˿P8.mZlc7P$$Ϙ%+p:GDZW+"hwrN輸vmSLJ8d"a/7 5L*Z*c/ EGVX$56PvLG68b gx:&,G 'Zz[Uk5A+7__$#R#.XU2/?,r+8 )Kӝ'M禀mE{4M.dU{N"pս cth2H Q Ӏ9^DfQp… S*B'A`cY8B:ܕ#X6__ʺ5mBk"C& E%A}\<$QLMQ0,nned΢z'.(\6RLNKz`aH>6wCS=t&D-\ 1`I|Qeb]OrzB&^,V k+2j"\}`cvKU"lo 7,n8 g5*ufb!\: |X^Ư\/B%}9JN5 'ʂ;5CN?GJYZgU k>)9+U]- irA#E 0[tpB1LArgO%D|R'-cuP}v0chwYG; t)!-QF}N9#D7(1'h"ӻ=KӚɹ8vYI&%S;B| ЌfV87Dk^>pOI?>ik>خlFd_'=tU/;5j{yS( _%VblIp]к}^礖ꩭXfTS32ğ% 'gW.ZɅ)Upz/fcN:™h-T4M b0=$5:?;p>2TN^"Ǐ]Bu܄K] X+.`tY=m[Ms1->7"EUUsk  rI4(a^Om,g"R<{kݲj)ULȍ6-U)b@St/x:|gS+m.;1w.rZXb3e\P $p5+~Dp}؃)e6i[i]VԜtKR+7$rKUl`bł-Z {D^e5&+|>X,N?Xx< pkCy)0̴0~+KÍA/U }tAw  < pG~-fjퟪ\Ph?!4M *8FsEs鴥Y:ei<V?%>|/ʻ6"3X \~jqjd 1c•,C> kliRZò{i S*NDB,J5Ԁ0XjO{0cVtϱ#:9L $E3j|,'SSh5 RYNӢ.Hlc5@൩ݔ:A'ࠆ͊8Hr bgjlCAvp|9&k"> #yX=Mi=]Nw9Pu07AY̶ì7(FrYV@tG$AnxBE:UOk君I5ݡu\q;997M^vvaCAdmzU=Ω{S #2=Ԇl)>6K~2C;.jhIHn]y(ֲ"7@.갵9ceiڤOL䂖 ]˙b1{ʒi:I9{NPB7XV+ź4,xS8 i))(fxݱu:Vm+ r&1"|ʢVW3QE!r#p,{)@K4+N0Ծ]dPESAmSe-< вf4Ew#p؅y++.' 0f-aʀ $v 4.,u K㦁Uq.Bӳ?YqjQ<V*~Fˍ.Il(7|\amt=1Zs#qzm X <XC O[Sz3bfT|&-ۄeWYp}T[@}ꋗԬcČ[ Edk"<:KHf&`vf=Mj+p3џ`kb>S #jp8y=0CO^R'HSQ<ϒ@'1S 5V6ʂ!op৖FohвޢʇQ3)s]& PJG +9A2ڨj_zlWKDuomHBaCswJf\á^{ihCM nS7~mg9gC"YbUP6JYa)?`(ݡ$1sw91Lʣļ1 x vq-}A|9V<_ӑ Q48Oq*sTp$(z7  -m'v䄻HM`2`hK< 2hhEJ!Y[b%Q Xeu"g_n5o1 ONhwx+iV VCm#?b yLC X#jD,M{q:ldq½͖PH-l:ڠ*mf؅Ǜ^/gW>/xLLv:{+P5UqafIwORvH5;c]oYfe;e;Ki嘇)iD\qC!mQ 3y`~QݩS <:'x^!d^SqE)6IouH^w`JNりqgF"6q%ƭɭl5McXT(̒v8FyrasԲܯXo$ѧcYS=5v>lIvI =ar:A~M& U(ϝq(PnSUOacBճ]SZfHte4&اGy.+&$-m}V=q`8G0,LjHP 65 brūԓ8Ort巘ڦ*&s[a .o-bdAƱL̇U9u]*5ŲƋE4=ʴAK ÉyZm?C[ٿ|k]S鍂gC߈ j8d] ŋRʂ"/UFH=Vy!DHՁ,G;)բѡ~fth2&I֋OcAM*m廓m:go؞<reI x 8;昹ơ kZtJ7Gזo K.N8o-XYɊF3!G7Է$b|U#fL/zإmo)5? ˄D^^"rQ|z8"VW'=VliU7햗,*D5#GxIgIk" G|{_|=ߢ׳ *IYr1 +T n/xAo\)9#ZXri^ Vԋa_Y;*pJ D$C8@sIhbdeO Qa!t<Զbֽ56gNI' /3W ʮT(K<`^'lPuN}嚐tlǖ Ęhal"6q4sbM]eo9ۜ8M>]ʠ.&x9D0*o%P;ce1HN+c? ŅdO&_{(7llN_ќGS "I PƸ#Fr's~SAD-^D2>%WŃTDy:WW[YޅYRV(1]wk(|ۜu?}\D:"XLUʥ+Xk]@+Q5ԺVk~)ZH`s[ efjR UWű7QwzSE!>N }\m@_ W@-_./ʬ&vZ3# tjeUh.',y;sp|QYuT !ս;ۼZ q9.] d[W\' b t|uO'EMKJ,fk"RܧL@205iNg 4 W{q2tGˡMqOuR> K7ܟc2q51yUD0EPAX"ɯ17- n{wtyT̘@e|}\)^*ت;t#}j.ܳ~L̅4xrކk+ ήK? I:uZTy,Y&6G>FKDRjyQka[M.[a9ˬ~w1kci!^cUwh}mJ{k}pkʷߤ%#D`^oޥ`Kr"63|)U#+b(…2>*I ? @`d
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1