Final Reflection Assignment for Mennonite Literature, Fall 2013


Mennonites, a denomination of Christians who have their roots in the Radical Reformation, try to live by the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Their literal interpretation of the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" has led them to eschew military service as against the teachings of Jesus. This belief, along their insistence on baptism as the voluntary choice of adults who decide to be disciples of Jesus, has often led them into conflict with state churches, and prompted many migrations in their history, most notably from Switzerland, Germany, and the Alsace to American in the 18th and 19th centuries; and from Holland to Poland to Russia in the 19th century, and from Russian to the US, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, and Mexico in the 20th century.

Because of this history of persecution and migration, Mennonites have long understood themselves " the this world, but not of this world, as Paul instructs in Romans 12: 2:

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

This separation, or partial separation from the world, has led to communities that are sometimes closed  to outsiders to varying degrees. Because Mennonites understand that the Christian life is one of discipleship, lived in community with other believers, their church communities have taken on distinct characters, and church divisions have been common when the group cannot agree on a practice or interpretation of a theological principle. Not until the latter part of the 20th century did the desire for unity and group solidarity take priority over these frequent divisions.

Since the 1960s both American and Canadian Mennonites have grown more open to non-Mennonites, and a strong commitment to missions in the 20th and 21st centuries has created a significant population of Mennonites across the globe.  Mennonite higher education, with its increasing openness to students of other faiths, has played a major role in the production of a class of Mennonite professionals and educated church leaders, as well as leaders in the mission field. Due to the efforts of such organizations as the Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mission Network, more than half of Mennonites Worldwide live outside of North America.  Civilian Public Service in the 1940s, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and the Peace Movement of the 1970s, brought American Mennonites into contact with other groups that shared their social and global peacemaking vision.

In his book, Mennonites in the Global Village, Sociologist Leo Driedger states that before 1940, 90% of Mennonites lived on farms. By 1990, only 10% of Mennonites were farming, and 25% of Mennonites were professionals. Because of this dramatic and relatively recent shift to modernity, Mennonites have been in constant negotiation to articulate their identity as a Christian, and/or religious and ethnic minority, in relationship to the larger cultures of which they have been a part.

As citizens of a postmodern world, most of us negotiate multiple communities and identities at once. Rather than live in an "either/or" world of compartmentalization, Mennonite writers seek to bring a complicated modern consciousness to bear on their writing.  Mennonite literature is situated at the border of multiple worlds and modes of discourse, finding a home in the "contact zone." In this way it speaks to multiple audiences from a specific cultural lens, and well as from a personal vantage point.
Writing works of poetry and fiction for a mainstream audience is expresses a desire on the part of an author to be "in the world," or at least in conversation with it. Writing works of poetry and fiction that reflect the effects of identity formation as part of an ethnic or religious group, is a way to contemplate what it means to be "in the world, but not of it" as a Mennonite.

In your final reflection, consider Mennonite literature as a recent phenomenon of this negotiation of personal identity or "self" in relation to group identity and the impact of modernization. Use a variety of works we've read this semester to support your own definition of what Mennonite literature is about and what it has to offer readers, both Mennonite and "others."  What does Mennonite literature "do" in the world that is different from history, theology, or missions? 

For evaluation purposes, please mention writers and works (minimum five) of Mennonite Literature from both the US and Canada, consider the variety of the types of Mennonites who are writing and who are represented in the literature (or if they are even represented at all), and refer to one or more works of criticism:

Hostetler, Ann. “The Unofficial Voice:  The Poetics of Cultural Identity and Contemporary U. S. Mennonite Poetry.”  Mennonite Quarterly Review (October 1998)  72.4, 511-528.

Tiessen, Hildi Froese, "Beyond the Binary: Re-Inscribing Cultural Identity in the Literature of Mennonites."  Mennonite Quarterly Review, (October 1998)  72.4

Gundy, Jeff. "In Praise of Lurkers Who Come Out to Speak.""Beyond the Binary: Re-Inscribing Cultural Identity in the Literature of Mennonites."  Mennonite Quarterly Review, (October 1998)  72.4