Presented to: Gideon O. Burton
For:
Passion for the question of whether there is a Mormon literature has been easy to engender. Sometimes it has been accompanied by intelligence and wit. In "Towards a Mormon Criticism: Should We Ask 'Is This Mormon Literature?'" Gideon Burton makes a major, restorative contribution to the discussion, an intelligent, witty, and impassioned contribution. Gideon's gift is to have gone between the horns of the dilemma articulated by Richard Cracroft and Bruce Jorgensen and felt by all concerned for a long time. By shifting the discussion of Latter-day Saint criticism from its focus on the content of literature to the way in which literature is conceived and received, Gideon makes us stop, take stock, and begin again. Because of his essay, we see the problem differently. For Gideon Burton, Restoration--the act of Restoration--is the heart of Mormon literature, and the eye of Mormon criticism.