Page - 97 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

“As i cannot write I put this down simply and freely” | 97www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 95–122 text is a speech act in the context of a widely extended situation.6 As a storage medium, a text can involve a speaker and a listener who do not share a time and space. Storage is a necessary condition if a text is to cross temporal and spatial distances; nevertheless, materiality is only one aspect of the dislocated communication allowed by the text. For Assmann a text is a message that can be resumed despite a space-time distance.7 When these general considerations about the text are linked with the idea of an object as a focal point of cultural practices, the significance of embroi- dering a text assumes particular significance. What is the impact of a material practice on the meaning-making processes linked to Elizabeth Parker’s text? What is the relationship between the textile medium and the stored message in the specific case of embroidering a sampler? The analysis of the sampler highlights the impact of the materiality of this particular writing technique and the significance of religious practice for both the materiality of the sam- pler and the text as a “resumed message”. Furthermore, this study highlights how studying objects and practice can help in the reconstruction of religious piety and ideas beyond religious elites and institutions. The writing, made of silky cross-stitches, gives insight into a compilation of prayers, hymns, and biblical texts that built the intimate religious worldview of working-class women in the 19th century. Following the materiality of this text, we discover a religious space in which dominant values and behaviours are reflected and challenged. A sampler, with its particular combination of materiality and text, is a crucial source, for it gives a voice to religious thinking and practices that have often been overlooked in academic histories of religions.8 The sampler is analysed according to the following steps. First, a close reading of the text is provided, with particular attention to the structure of the arguments. Second, the analysis is complemented with intertextual ref- erences to religious writings and hymns. Third, the link between text and socio-historical context is presented in light of the autobiographical character of Parker’s narrative. Fourth, the materiality of this writing is addressed by discussing embroidery as a practice. In conclusion, the various aspects of the analysis are discussed in light of their religious significance. 6 “Texte sind Sprechakte im Kontext zerdehnter Situationen”, Assmann 2007, 126–127. 7 Assmann 2007, 130: “Text, so hatten wir definiert, ist die wiederaufgenommene Mitteilung, der Rückgriff auf eine sprachliche Äußerung über den Hiat einer räumlichen und/oder zeitlichen Distanz hinweg.” See also Eggert 2014. 8 Matthew-Jones/Jones 2015.