Book of Mormon: Literature?

[teejay17]

I'm just wondering if the Book of Mormon can be considered Literature?

[mal4mac]

I vaguely remember Harold Bloom has good things to say about about Joseph Smith. I think he links his work to Gnosticism in some way. Try a Google search "Harold Bloom, Joseph Smith"....

[JCamilo]

Holy Bloom...
You define literature, you define if it is or not.

[teejay17]

I vaguely remember Harold Bloom has good things to say about about Joseph Smith. I think he links his work to Gnosticism in some way. Try a Google search "Harold Bloom, Joseph Smith"....

That's interesting. I'll look into it and see...
I wonder, also, if TBOM can be viewed as myth in the Northrop Frye tradition?

[Nietzsche]

That's interesting. I'll look into it and see...
I wonder, also, if TBOM can be viewed as myth in the Northrop Frye tradition?

This is an interesting article on the same matter. http://www.gnosis.org/ahp.htm

I found it searching for Harold Bloom and Joseph Smith. I always thought there were some similarities.. Gospels outside the orthodox canon, belief Jesus was married to Mrs. Magdalene, and a certain esoteric feel to the whole thing, with Joseph Smith claiming to have found and translated the book of mormon through divination and divine knowledge (gnosis!)... It appears my observations were correct.

And yes, The Book is religious literature, but literature no less. You don't have to believe in a religion to read it's holy book out of curiosity.

[isidro]

Surely in this day and age anything may be considered literature, and if other religious texts such as the Bible, Tao Te Ching, Analects of Confucius, the Popul Vuh etc can be considered literature, why not the Book of Mormon? I think likely those most likely to question its validity would be Mormons themselves since they are so timid about forcing their religion on others due to their Articles of Faith #11 and anyone anti Mormon who do not wish to respect that text. It surely has a plot to rival most novels and linguistic diversity and philosophical meat. So why not? I suggest you check out the excellent read The Word and Its Witness: The Spiritualization of American Realism if you are in any doubt of the validity of religious texts as literature.

Great question, by the way.

[Neo_Sephiroth]

Most people read religious text as literature. So, the Book of Mormon is a religious account. In that, yes, it can be read as literature just as the Bible is view as literature by many that do not believe.

[tailor STATELY]

I'm just wondering if the Book of Mormon can be considered Literature?

A most enlightened and timely question. I'll be giving a talk on "The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ" in the near future (lay members are invited to give talks in Sacrament Services the second, third, fourth, and fifth Sundays) and this very question has helped me prepare somewhat more broadly afield.

From a strictly biased point of view (as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) I believe "The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ" to be rich in value to those who wish to study its literary form.

In a web article titled (& link)... Book of Mormon Literature (http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/book_of_mormon/literature.html) from lightplanet.com (not an LDS affiliated site [that I'm aware of]) by Richard Dilworth Rust and Donald W. Parry - many literary forms are described:

Poetry, Narrative Texts, Sermons and Speeches, Letters, Allegory, Metaphor, Imagery, Typology, Wisdom Literature, and Apocalyptic Literature

note: From http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1693109.html... Mostly for my benefit, I learn something new each day.
Typology is subtly different from symbolism and is in fact often used as a synonym for symbolism, but it refers more specifically to the representation of things by objects in the sense of representing an entire class or type in one symbolic representation or character

The web article "Book of Mormon Literature" bibliography cites:


England, Eugene. "A Second Witness for the Logos: The Book of Momon and Contemporary Literary Criticism." In By Study and Also by Faith, 2 vols., ed. J. Lundquist and S. Ricks, Vol.2 pp. 91-125. Salt Lake City, 1990.

Jorgensen, Bruce W.; Richard Dilworth Rust; and George S. Tate. Essays on typology in Literature of Belief, ed. Neal E. Lambert. Provo, Utah, 1981.

Nichols, Robert E., Jr. "Beowulf and Nephi: A Literary View of the Book of Mormon." Dialogue 4 (Autumn 1969):40-47.

Parry, Donald W. "Hebrew Literary Patterns in the Book of Mormon." Ensign 19 (Oct. 1989):58-61.

Rust, Richard Dilworth. "Book of Mormon Poetry." New Era (Mar. 1983):46-50

Welch, John W. "Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon." In Chiasmus in Antiquity, ed. J. Welch, pp. 198-210. Hildesheim, 1981.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 1, Book of Mormon Literature

Sincerely,
tailor STATELY

[teejay17]

I'm also very curious to learn, or discuss, the connection between The Book of Mormon and Science Fiction.
It would seem that many of the most popular, highly regarded and influential SF writers are Mormons.
Why would this be? What is it about Mormonism and The Book of Mormon that inspires so much SF and Fantasy?

[Neo_Sephiroth]

I think it's to each his/her own. Those individuals might have goals that pertains towards literature, perhaps, science fiction. So, I don't think that the Book of Mormon has much to do with that. I think that there are just writers out here in the world trying to make a living like you and I.

[wokeem]

"All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few, except the elect have seen it or at least taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me. It is such a pretentious affair and yet so slow, so sleepy, such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print.

If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle. Keeping awake while he did it, was at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and myteriously engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out of the way locality, the work of translating it was equally a miracle for the same reason.

The book seems to be merely a prosey detail of imaginary history with the Old Testament for a model followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament. The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint old fashioned sound and structure of our King James translation of the scriptures. The result is a mongrel, half modern glibbness and half ancient simplicity and gravity. The latter is awkward and constrained, the former natural, but grotesque by the contrast. Whenever he found his speech growing too modern, which was about every sentence or two, he labeled in a few such scriptural phrases as, "exceeding sore," "and it came to pass," etc. and made things satisfactory again. "And it came to pass," was his pet. If he had left that out, his bible would have been only a pamphlet."

-Mark Twain

[Yvain]

Definition: The body of written works of a language, period, or culture.

It is most definitely literature

[dafydd manton]

Definition: The body of written works of a language, period, or culture.

It is most definitely literature

Impossible to argue with!! I don't think much of the book, but you've hit the nail on the head.

[mal4mac]

"All men have heard of the Mormon Bible... It is chloroform in print.

If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle. Keeping awake while he did it, was at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and myteriously engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out of the way locality, the work of translating it was equally a miracle for the same reason.

Whenever he found his speech growing too modern, which was about every sentence or two, he labeled in a few such scriptural phrases as, "exceeding sore," "and it came to pass," etc. and made things satisfactory again. "And it came to pass," was his pet. If he had left that out, his bible would have been only a pamphlet..."

-Mark Twain

Mark Twain is so funny! That's the kind of literature we want.

Some Mormon's gave me a copy of their Book. I read a few pages but then the eyes glazed over. "Chloroform in print" is spot on. I threw it in the recycle bin. I don't want charity shop buyers to have that experience. Their life is hard enough.

[SFG75]

I agree with Yvain, it definitely is a part of literature under the category of culture. As culture deals with ideas, it is fair to say that The Book of Mormon does constitute literature. There are a number of things disagreeable about the book and that clearly shows it was a product of Smith's 1840s mind. The idea that good and bad tribes of people were marked with varying shades of skin color is absolutely nonsensical. That, and the fact that there has never been a discovered skeleton dating to the time period that Smith believed the Nephites and Lamanites existed in America. The oldest skeletons are from the new world, and there is a clear break between the old word, and the "new" world of North and South America. The "verily, verily I say unto you" is also an interesting phrase from the time period.

[Dekarto]

It's fiction all the way. Literature? I'm not so sure.

[hellsapoppin]

The BOM can definitely be viewed as mythological literature.

[Hopfrog]

It was reading the Book of Mormon that confirmed my testimony and led to my re-baptism after twenty-five years of excommunication. During my years of straying I continued to love Scripture as Literature, which increased when I was tinkering with the idea of converting to Judaism and began to study Torah, Talmud, Rashi, &c. Literature is my first love, and thus I cannot but approach Scripture as poetry, song, fable, myth, &c. As a believing Latter-day Saint, I can reinforce a personal testimony of them through study and prayer; yet they never lose their luster as fascinating writing, and to read them or listen to them on audio implements enriches life.

[NikolaiI]

I will say yes, it can be viewed as literature. 😊😊😊
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