People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture (Oxford scholarship online)

In People Of Paradox, Terryl Givens Traces The Rise And Development Of Mormon Culture From The Days Of Joseph Smith In Upstate New York, Through Brigham Young's Founding Of The Territory Of Deseret On The Shores Of Great Salt Lake, To The Spread Of The Latter-day Saints Around The Globe. Throughout The Last Century And A Half, Givens Notes, Distinctive Traditions Have Emerged Among The Latter-day Saints, Shaped By Dynamic Tensions--or Paradoxes--that Give Mormon Cultural Expression Much Of Its Vitality. Here Is A Religion Shaped By A Rigid Authoritarian Hierarchy And Radical Individualism; By Prophetic Certainty And A Celebration Of Learning And Intellectual Investigation; By Existence In Exile And A Yearning For Integration And Acceptance By The Larger World. Givens Divides Mormon History Into Two Periods, Separated By The Renunciation Of Polygamy In 1890. In Each, He Explores The Life Of The Mind, The Emphasis On Education, The Importance Of Architecture And Urban Planning (so Apparent In Salt Lake City And Mormon Temples Around The World), And Mormon Accomplishments In Music And Dance, Theater, Film, Literature, And The Visual Arts. He Situates Such Cultural Practices In The Context Of The Society Of The Larger Nation And, In More Recent Years, The World. Today, He Observes, Only Fourteen Percent Of Mormon Believers Live In The United States. Mormonism Has Never Been More Prominent In Public Life. But There Is A Rich Inner Life Beneath The Public Surface, One Deftly Captured In This Sympathetic, Nuanced Account By A Leading Authority On Mormon History And Thought. -- From Publisher Description. Foundations And Paradoxes In Mormon Cultural Origins -- The Varieties Of Mormon Cultural Expression. Terryl L. Givens. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [345]-395) And Index. Contents......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 Part I: FOUNDATIONS AND PARADOXES IN MORMON CULTURAL ORIGINS......Page 20 1 The Iron Rod and the Liahona: Authority and Radical Freedom......Page 22 2 The Endless Quest and Perfect Knowledge: Searching and Certainty......Page 40 3 Everlasting Burnings and Cinder Blocks: The Sacred and the Banal......Page 56 4 Peculiar People and Loneliness at the Top: Election and Exile......Page 72 Part II: THE VARIETIES OF MORMON CULTURAL EXPRESSION Beginnings (1830–1890): The Dancing Puritans......Page 82 5 "The Glory of God Is Intelligence": Mormons and the Life of the Mind......Page 84 6 "Zion Shall Be Built": Architecture and City Planning......Page 120 7 "No Music in Hell": Music and Dance......Page 136 8 "On a Cannibal Island": Theater......Page 162 9 "Novels Rather than Nothing": Literature......Page 176 10 "A Goodly Portion of Painters and Artists": Visual Arts......Page 198 Part III: THE VARIETIES OF MORMON CULTURAL EXPRESSION: A Movable Zion (1890–Present): Pioneer Nostalgia and Beyond the American Religion......Page 210 11 "Fomenting the Pot": The Life of the Mind......Page 214 12 "A Uniform Look for the Church": Architecture......Page 260 13 "No Tabernacle Choir on Broadway": Music and Dance......Page 272 14 "Cinema as Sacrament": Theater and Film......Page 284 15 "To the Fringes of Faith": Literature......Page 304 16 "Painting the Mormon Story": Visual Arts......Page 344 Conclusion: "Through the Particular to the Universal"......Page 358 Notes......Page 364 B......Page 416 C......Page 418 D......Page 419 F......Page 420 H......Page 421 J......Page 422 L......Page 423 M......Page 424 N......Page 425 P......Page 426 R......Page 427 S......Page 428 T......Page 430 W......Page 431 Y......Page 432 Z......Page 433 ## Abstract This book is an exploration of the Mormon cultural identity that Joseph Smith and, to a lesser extent, Brigham Young founded. At the heart of their thinking were a number of dynamic tensions, or paradoxes, that give Mormon cultural expression much of its vitality. Arguing that culture can be viewed as the result of a people's efforts to accommodate such irresolvable tensions, Givens looks at the Mormon “habit of mind”, and forms of artistic expression to trace consistent themes and ideas that constitute, or contribute to the formation of a distinct cultural community. This study begins by examining four especially rich and fertile tensions, or thematic pairings in Mormon thought, that have inspired recurrent and sustained engagement on the part of writers, artists, and thinkers in the Mormon community. The safety and strictures of centralized authority, the rhetoric and promise of theological certainty, the collapse of the sacred into the banal, and the retreat into chosen isolation all find their opposite temptation in the allure of radical individualism, the endless and endlessly deferred nature of saving knowledge, the yearning for a theology of transcendence, and the angst of alienation. As Mormonism continues its evolution from American denomination to a new religious tradition and world-wide faith, this study represents a timely look at the role of cultural achievement and self-representation in that process. Genres treated include education, intellectual life, architecture, music and dance, theater (drama) film, literature, and visual art. Oxford University Press, USA Contents 10 Introduction 12 Part I: FOUNDATIONS AND PARADOXES IN MORMON CULTURAL ORIGINS 20 1 The Iron Rod and the Liahona: Authority and Radical Freedom 22 2 The Endless Quest and Perfect Knowledge: Searching and Certainty 40 3 Everlasting Burnings and Cinder Blocks: The Sacred and the Banal 56 4 Peculiar People and Loneliness at the Top: Election and Exile 72 Part II: THE VARIETIES OF MORMON CULTURAL EXPRESSION Beginnings (1830–1890): The Dancing Puritans 82 5 "The Glory of God Is Intelligence": Mormons and the Life of the Mind 84 6 "Zion Shall Be Built": Architecture and City Planning 120 7 "No Music in Hell": Music and Dance 136 8 "On a Cannibal Island": Theater 162 9 "Novels Rather than Nothing": Literature 176 10 "A Goodly Portion of Painters and Artists": Visual Arts 198 Part III: THE VARIETIES OF MORMON CULTURAL EXPRESSION: A Movable Zion (1890–Present): Pioneer Nostalgia and Beyond the American Religion 210 11 "Fomenting the Pot": The Life of the Mind 214 12 "A Uniform Look for the Church": Architecture 260 13 "No Tabernacle Choir on Broadway": Music and Dance 272 14 "Cinema as Sacrament": Theater and Film 284 15 "To the Fringes of Faith": Literature 304 16 "Painting the Mormon Story": Visual Arts 344 Conclusion: "Through the Particular to the Universal" 358 Notes 364 Index 416 A 416 B 416 C 418 D 419 E 420 F 420 G 421 H 421 I 422 J 422 K 423 L 423 M 424 N 425 O 426 P 426 Q 427 R 427 S 428 T 430 U 431 V 431 W 431 Y 432 Z 433 ISBN-13:,9780195167115 ISBN-13: 9780195167115