Reading Character after Calvin: Secularization, Empire, and the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Calvinist theology helps us read characters in the early British novel by shedding new light on the origins of modern secularism. It suggests that two-dimensionality reproduces through form a model of interpretation that originates in Calvinist Protestant theology, where every person possessed a spiritual status as saved or damned. Diamond shows how Calvinism survives in the pages of early novels as a guide to discerning religious hypocrisy and distinctions related to imperial race-making.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 01 April 2024
Publisher: University of Virginia Press

The enigmatic nature of fictional characters in the eighteenth-century novel has been extensively studied, highlighting their dualistic nature, suggesting unstable connections between the external and internal realms. In his book, Reading Character after Calvin, David Mark Diamond delves into the religious origins of these characters, contending that their two-dimensional portrayal reproduces a model of interpretation rooted in Calvinist Protestant theology.

Calvin's teachings posited that every individual possessed a spiritual status, either saved or damned, and their outward appearances were believed to reflect this inner condition. However, this belief was constantly plagued by the possibility of a discrepancy between the two. Diamond demonstrates how Calvinism persists in the pages of early novels as a tool for identifying religious hypocrisy and, ultimately, distinctions related to imperial race-making. He traces the evolution of Calvinist character detection from its initial sectarian contexts to the realms of eighteenth-century fiction, unveiling the process by which religion detached from doctrinal orthodoxy and became intertwined with the ambition of racialized global dominance.

Diamond analyzes a diverse range of texts to provide a novel perspective on both the functioning of literary characters and their role in perpetuating, questioning, or critiquing the violence of empire. Through his meticulous examination, he sheds light on the intricate interplay between religion, literature, and the construction of empire, offering a fresh and insightful understanding of this historical period.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813950884