Cringing at Benevolence
In: Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionSearch for other papers by Charles McCrary in
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Abstract
Engaging with Logan’s third chapter, on the American Seamen’s Friends Society, this piece reflects on what it means to cringe in the context of a benevolent or charitable relationship. People cringe when they are made painfully aware of the gap between their self-conception (and/or their ideal self) and the way others perceive them. Logan shows us, in her study of the ASFS, the cringeworthy nature of antebellum benevolent societies: they learned about the objects of their benevolence (in this case, sailors), performed rituals alongside them, and attempted to befriend them, and yet they did not ultimately want to be them or be like them but, rather, to change them.
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Dahl, Melissa (2018). Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness. New York: Penguin Random House.
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Kierkegaard, Søren (1983 [1849]). The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and Awakening. Ed. and trans., Edward V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
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Markbreiter, Charlie (2022). “‘Other Trans People Make Me Dysphoric’: Trans Assimilation and Cringe,” The New Inquiry, Mar. 1.
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Ngai, Sianne (2020). Theory of the Gimmick: Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Shoemaker, Nancy (2015). “A Typology of Colonialism.” Perspectives on History, Oct. 1.
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Warner, Michael (2002). Publics and Counterpublics. New York: Zone Books.
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Cringing at Benevolence
In: Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionSearch for other papers by Charles McCrary in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Engaging with Logan’s third chapter, on the American Seamen’s Friends Society, this piece reflects on what it means to cringe in the context of a benevolent or charitable relationship. People cringe when they are made painfully aware of the gap between their self-conception (and/or their ideal self) and the way others perceive them. Logan shows us, in her study of the ASFS, the cringeworthy nature of antebellum benevolent societies: they learned about the objects of their benevolence (in this case, sailors), performed rituals alongside them, and attempted to befriend them, and yet they did not ultimately want to be them or be like them but, rather, to change them.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 15 | 15 | 6 |
| Full Text Views | 40 | 40 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 50 | 50 | 0 |