The Interpretation of Material Shapes in Puritanism: A Study of Rhetoric, Prejudice, and Violence, by Anne Kibbey

Through her detailed analysis of the rhetoric of Puritan plain style, associate professor of English Ann Kibbey overturns many of our long-held assumptions about the social and artistic values of Protestantism. In The Interpretation of Material Shapes in Puritanism, Kibbey centers her argument on the influential preacher John Cotton and discloses a general theory of figuration in the Protestant tradition that has been overlooked by literary critics, historians and sociologists alike. The author explores the immense variety of ways in which early Protestants in Europe and America granted significance to material shapes.

Cambridge, 2009; 216 pages; ISBN 0521107881 – Amazon