Sacred Biography: Saints and Their Biographers in the Middle Ages - Brossura

Heffernan, Thomas J.

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0195079078 ISBN 13: 9780195079074

Casa editrice: Oxford University Press, 1992

Riassunto

Medieval "saints' lives" are among the oldest literary texts of Western vernacular culture, yet are routinely patronized as "pious fiction". Heffernan demonstrates that to characterize the genre as fiction is to misunderstand the intentions of medieval authors, who were neither simply credulous or blinded by piety. Concentrating on Latin and English texts, Heffernan reconstructs the medieval perspective, arguing that such biographical writing presupposes an entirely different view of the world and the self, and presents new ideas of sin and guilt, of what was real and what imaginary, and for what one should live and die. Offering a new perspective on Christian literary expression, this book will appeal to scholars in Medieval, Religious and New Testament studies, Feminist Studies, and those interested in the history of Christian spirituality.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

A challenging and substantive contribution to the growing discussion of the lives of the saints among scholars in both the humanities and the social sciences. (Theological Studies)

Heffernan has read widely and reflectively in the vast field of medieval hagiography and given us a book on the subject that probes deeply into the nature of the documents and the vagaries of our response to them. (Church History)

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Oxford University Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0195079078
• ISBN 13: 9780195079074
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 348