Events

Eli Cumings (Columbia), “Cursed Flesh: Racial Hermeneutics in Reformation England”

Abstract: In the textual culture of Reformation England, representations of human difference were mediated through theologies of providence and predestination. Whilst orthodox doctrine held that social identity was irrelevant to eschatological status, popular literatures frequently interpreted foreign cultural practices, genealogies and even physiognomy as indications of collective reprobation. This racial hermeneutic recast human difference as a sign of divine wrath, thus legitimizing the establishment of hierarchies based on perceived eschatological status.