When it comes to Home Literature, Orson Whitney talked about
how literature was for learning, and some of what fell under the “best books”
also included history, poetry, philosophy, etc. Literature must also be
original and diverse, and a person should also feel what they write.
Something that Nephi Anderson did in Added Upon was include substantial amounts of poetry (such as
Wordsworth). If, for some reason, you stumbled upon the book as a non-member,
you would be able to see a familiar names within the poetry. The book was
published in 1898, so it was after the early saints had struggled with a lot of
moving from place to place, and were in Utah (however, they were still moving
around after that), so that could have influenced Anderson’s writing and “feeling
of what he wrote.” He also began the book with the story of the premortal existence,
a story, as members of The Church, we are familiar with. People of other
Christian faiths would also be able to recognize the event taking place, as the
widely-known characters are either presented by name (ex. Lucifer), or easy to
pick up on (ex. Father). He kept with the basic storyline, but included characters
of his own to make the story more original.
I felt like additionally to what you are saying, the "pre mortal' part of the story was very much tailored to a specific LDS audience and deeply rooted in LDS Theology. For example, you mention "Father" would be common, but "Father" in the sense that Nephi is using it is quite a bit different, especially when he talks about Lucifer and Elder Brother (christ) being siblings. This is a doctrine that most christian churches shy away from, even combat and use in anti-mormon literature.
ReplyDeleteYeah! I really like this observation. I think quoting poets and having actual quotes from the Bible with references does a lot to help an outsider perspective, and it also does what Whitney said that helps Mormonism be not just truth, but a gospel of intelligence and culture. Quoting poetry really ties the story into intelligence and culture.
ReplyDeleteI thought the simple story line was key in making it easy to read and easy to take a lot away from.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would agree that him quoting other poets added to its literary significance, because it me it felt a little force.
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