Abstract：After its publication in 1978, The American Jeremiad had a 2012 anniversary edition, with an incisive, penetrating new preface by the author Sacvan Bercovitch. This seminal book explores the rhetoric of New England Puritan jeremiad and its function as a ritual of social cohesion. While reviewing and analyzing Bercovitch’s highly enlightening insights and approach of ideological reading, this article also illustrates Bercovitch’s contributions to the studies in American culture, literature, rhetoric and American studies as well as the book’s compelling significance in the 21st century as one of the classic books for American culture and literature studies.
