Transatlantic Print Culture and the 18th-century Great Awakening

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00423
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02030:English literature and literature in the English language-related
• Research Institution: Sophia University
• Principal Investigator: MASUI Shitsuyo 上智大学, 文学部, 教授 (80181642)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: Abolitionist movement / Christianity / Beecher / Gender / Race / Ethnicity / Second Great Awakening

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Although this entire research project has been conducted during the Corona pandemic, I was able to visit New York and Boston in the summer of 2023 to finalize this project. In New York, I stayed in Brooklyn and visited Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Church. This church functioned as one of the important "stations" of the underground railroad and helped slaves from the South to escape from their bondages. Plymouth Church still preserves the remains of a "station" where slaves from the South were rescued. I was also able to confirm how convenient for the abolitionists to rescue slaves from the South in Brooklyn. Since the whole area was an Island, it was possible for cargo boats to anchor and send slaves safely using the ports on Brooklyn Island. I also visited Boston/Cambridge to conduct research at Harvard libraries and met Prof. David D. Hall, J. Chaplin, Anita & Orlando Patterson.

Free Research Field

American Literature and Religion

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

研究期間後半では、J. エドワーズやG. ホイットフィールドによる18世紀信仰復興運動を継承する19世紀第二次大覚醒運動をテーマとした。パンデミックが落ち着き始めた為、研究延長を申請し念願の海外リサーチに赴いた。ニューヨークではH. W. ビーチャーが牧師を務めたブルックリン、プリマス教会を訪問し、奴隷制廃止運動とキリスト教の関わりについて調査した。次にケンブリッジ(MA)へと移動し、ハーヴァード大学図書館でリサーチを行った。研究協力者、D. ホール、J. チャプリン、O＆A. パタソン教授等、同大学研究者との再会ができた。国際的な研究交流を今後も継続し、後身へと繋いでいくことを願う。