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Only a Tract: The Production and Distribution of Evangelical Gospel Literature and the Construction of Social Boundaries

Abstract

Gospel tracts are religious pamphlets passed out by missionaries in the fulfillment of the Great Commission, a scripturally based duty to evangelize the teachings of Christ. This dissertation examines the use of Gospel tracts in the construction of evangelical identity. Often overlooked as mere ephemera, tracts can be used as windows into the lived religious behavior of ordinary Evangelicals. While nominally tools of outreach, the efficacy of tract distribution is often called into question. However as artifacts of religious and cultural behavior, gospel tracts also shed light on the ways in which certain evangelical communities construct borders of identity between themselves, secular society and rival religious groups. Archival research was employed in the gathering of historical documents from tract literature databases. Contemporary material was obtained through excavation of online literature and found ephemera. The project begins with an exploration of the interwoven, historical roots of American print culture in the use of images and polemics as a means of social demarcation between Protestants and other Christian traditions. It explores the continuity of anti-Catholic narratives in Chick Publications, the role of purity language in tract culture and also its relationship to American business culture, money and brand identity. Finally, the dissertation situates these various aspects of tract production and distribution within the context of the cultural hegemony of American evangelical Christianity, nativism and conspiracy.

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