Comparison of L. M. Montgomery's 1908 Anne of Green Gables with Kevin Sullivan's 1985 telefilm adaptation clarifies the role of religious and spiritual practices in both texts; the comparison, while it demonstrates the process of secularization in late twentieth-century popular culture, also highlights the institutional context for Anne's religious maturation in the novel. Montgomery's representation of a changing church and of a personal spirituality that is an essential component of maturation raises questions about the implications of secularization to the depiction of spiritual identity in young people's literature.
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