Body and soul
Subtitle: essays on medieval women and mysticism
By: Elizabeth Alvilda Petroff.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 235
Subjects: Women mystics -- Europe.; Mysticism -- History -- Middle Ages, 600-1500.; Women -- History -- Middle Ages, 500-1500.; Christian literature -- History and criticism.; Civilization, Medieval, in literature.; Body and soul in literature.; Mysticism and literature.
Description: Opening a window onto a long-neglected world of women's experience, this text features eleven essays that examine the writings of medieval women mystics from England, France, Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries, providing close readings of a number of important texts from the viewpoint of different literary theories. Surveying various styles of hagiographical writing, the author offers ground-breaking scholarship on a broad range of topics such as how medieval holy women may have appeared to their contemporaries, medieval antifeminism, comparisons between earlier and later Christian mystical writing, the relationship between male confessors and female penitents in the Middle Ages, and the process by which these extraordinary women produced their work. For courses in religious, medieval, or women's studies, this unique text fills a conspicuous gap in an important and fascinating field of literature.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.