Output details
29 - English Language and Literature
Swansea University
In the Shadow of the Pulpit: Literature and Nonconformist Wales
An earlier version of the chapter on Dylan Thomas first appeared in pamphlet form, published by University of Wales, Lampeter, where it was originally delivered as the Tucker lecture for 2009 ('Dylan Marlais Thomas: What's in a Middle Name?, Lampeter: Trivium Publications, 2009). The book chapter is twice the length of the published lecture. In addition to much more extensive references to Dylan Thomas's poetry, and substantial discussion of his letters and prose works (entirely absent from the lecture), it includes significant new contextual material, particularly concerning the 19th century history of Unitarianism both in the UK and the US
a) Key aspects of the argument for the breadth and penetration of the cultural impact of Dissent rely on previously undiscovered primary sources accessible only in The National Library of Wales. b) In conspectus the study ranges over the textual output of the best part of three centuries. c) The study involves an interweaving of theology, religious history, bicultural history and socio-political assessment with analysis of a substantial body of creative texts.