Page - 116 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

116 | Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 95–122 haviours in that it consists of a plain cross-stitch without any decoration. Her text, as she states at the beginning, is free and intimate. What does this text mean in terms of its materiality? What might be the meaning of such a textile performance? Nigel Llewellyn interprets this needlework as penitential and as “a tool of therapy, a thing made of words shaped by cloth and thread to keep Elizabeth memories alive for her, to encourage reflection on her past folly and be a weapon against her fits of shame and depression to help her gain salvation and lead a virtuous life.”46 According to him, the sampler was made not to demonstrate needlework skills, but rather to elaborate Elizabeth’s con- dition. It was not intended to be presented to others, for it was an intimate embroidery.47 Llewellyn assumes that it was not designed by Elizabeth herself, but made under the supervision of a person caring for her, maybe the wife of Dr W. This suggestion is a hypothesis worth considering, even though the stitched text, particularly in the second part, appears as a very personal com- pilation composed from memory rather than as a text suggested by somebody else. In any case, the conventions linked to the sampler as a textile genre are broken by the intimate character of this material source: modesty and reli- gious devotion clash with the description of inner conflicts and a desire to die. Concluding Remarks The textile nature of this autobiographical narration is crucial for interpreting it both as a storage medium and as a practice of writing.48 As a material thing it has specific characteristics – a cloth of linen with silk cross-stitches – and has been preserved through generations. The sampler, as an object, stores not only a succession of letters conveying a meaning, but also the practices of producing this very text, through accurate and neat needlework. It is a very slow process of writing, reflecting, and praying. By engaging with the object, the reader gains insight into the life, fears, religious worldview, devotion, and living context of a young working-class woman from Ashburnham, East Sus- sex. This case study demonstrates the crucial significance of material culture for studying everyday practices not accessible through intellectually and the- ologically sophisticated literary production. In the case of Elizabeth Parker’s 46 Llewellyn 1999, 66. 47 See e. g. Newell 2009, 55. 48 Goggin 2009, 33.