17th century Puritan readership and the legitimacy of Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative
Andreas Reinbott
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Münster (Anglistik), 24 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The following paper focuses on topics which will deal with questions such as: how could a woman in 17th century Puritan society publish her own story and what was Rowlandson’s position in the community like before and after her captivity? Also, Rowlandson’s narrative will be placed in a wider context of the Captivity Narrative as a literary genre in the 17th century since the notion of readership, or reading communities, and the reception of the various editions of Rowlandson’s narrative plays quite an important role in dealing with the narrative as a piece of literature.
