ABSTRACT
Personal narratives of conversion written by nineteenth-century American converts to Roman Catholicism constitute a distinctive form of spiritual autobiography. The unique character of these narratives is especially apparent when the narratives are viewed in relation to the genre of spiritual autobiography. Then similarities and differences in focus and breadth of content and structure and in the intent of the authors emerge with clarity. The visual arts and literature reflected this new individualism: the self-portrait and autobiography celebrated the newly acquired sence of individual importance. Typical seventeenth-century American Puritan narratives tended more "toward formalistic recitation and mechanical pattern" than did their English counterparts. Spiritual autobiography is a personal narrative which focuses upon the author's religious experiences: the awakening of religious sentiments, conversion, and the impact of the newly acquired religious faith upon his life. The spiritual life is regularly portrayed in the metaphor Bunyan chose: the battle between darkness and light, evil and goodness.
