What is the “Great American Novel?” Can we consider it national scripture?

In this first release from the archives to relaunch Religionish, Ashley and her guest explore the relationship between American literature, Americaness, and a national civic religion.

Suggested Reading

In this episode multiple books, films, and texts are mentioned.

Books

Find the suggested reading from this episode at the Religionish Bookshop store.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

The American Bible: Whose America is this? by Stephen Prothero

God’s New Israel by Conrad Cherry

Varieties of Civil Religion by Robert Bellah and Phillip Hammond

The Broken Covenant by Robert Bellah

Links & Films

American Civil Religion — Robert Bellah

The Great American Novel — John William DeForest

What is the Great American Novel? — LA Times

Why are we obsessed with the Great American Novel? — NY Times

Have you read the 200 best American novels? — PBS

An Easy Guide to Writing the Great American Novel — Washington Post

Lincoln — Steven Spielberg

Birth of a Nation — D.W. Griffith