The Reverend Mark Twain Quotes

“One can only say this: Calvinism is the order "left standing" in Twains' literary life and he respond on the level of form and content to the ideas found in that stern tradition. p.191”
― Joe B. Fulton, The Reverend Mark Twain: Theological Burlesque, Form, and Content

“Called to be a writer, but not a minister, Twain depicted his work as an author in theological terms, humorously describing himself as preacher, prophet, and even saint. Twain's work frequently reminds one of the Menippean satirist, who drew on traditional genres for their burlesques and "ostensibly improvised sermons," as Gilbert Highest notes, even while developing their own views in response to their opponents.”
― Joe B. Fulton, The Reverend Mark Twain: Theological Burlesque, Form, and Content

“Incorrectly, many critics see the target as the text itself, when frequently the parody champions the cause of the religious text. Twain adheres to the genre in order to create a parody of it, frequently making the original the "hero of the parody," in Bakhtin's words. p.5”
― Joe B. Fulton, The Reverend Mark Twain: Theological Burlesque, Form, and Content

“Clearly, Twain parodies the sacred text, but uses it as a vehicle for social criticism, rather than as the recipient of that criticism. Neither burlesque nor parody always aims at the form itself, which is often used to critique some aspect of society; this is particularly true when Twain uses religious literary genres. Through his parody, Twain reveals the difference between what people say they believe and how they really believe, drawing a line between the 'genuine Creeds" that people think and the 'ancient formula, elevating it as the standard by which contemporary society may still be judged. p.4”
― Joe B. Fulton, The Reverend Mark Twain: Theological Burlesque, Form, and Content