The Imitation of Christ: A New Reading of the 1441 Latin Autograph Manuscript

Thomas à Kempis

ISBN 10: 0881460974 / ISBN 13: 9780881460971

Editore: Mercer University Press, 2007

Abnutzung / Risse - leicht. The Imitation of Christ has been published in more editions and languages than any book except the Bible. Samuel Johnson noted its significance, suggesting it "must be a good book, as the world has opened its arms to receive it." Esteemed figures like Thomas Carlyle and George Eliot have praised it, while St. Ignatius Loyola translated it, and Pope John Paul I was reportedly reading it when he died. For centuries, it has been integral to religious training and personal devotion. However, today, many view it as outdated, a relic of pre-Vatican II times, often dismissing it as filled with world contempt and self-loathing. This perception reveals more about contemporary readers than the text itself. Modern readers react differently to lines like "this is the highest wisdom: through contempt of the world to aspire to the kingdom of heaven" compared to those from earlier centuries. An informed response requires a deep understanding of literary, historical, and theological contexts. Creasy's translation aims to recreate the experience of a fifteenth-century reader, incorporating reader-response theory and reflecting both the structure and style of the original Latin. While crafted for modern audiences, the fervor and power of the original text remain intact. Dr. Creasy's translation has become the standard for this spiritual classic, revitalizing it for a new generation. Codice articolo 53720dbe-2e7e-4a2a-905e-a4766f801fba

Riassunto:

The Imitation of Christ has appeared in more editions and in more languages than any other book except the Bible. Samuel Johnson once remarked to Bowell that it must be a good book, as the world has opened its arms to receive it. Others have praised it as well, including Thomas Carlyle, George Eliot, Thomas De Quincey, and Matthew Arnold. Among the religious, St. Ignatius Loyola translated it, and Pope John Paul I was said to have been reading it the night that he died. It has been standard fare in religious training and personal devotion for centuries. Yet today, few people know the Imitation and those who do more often than not think it hopelessly out of date, a pre-Vatican II relic, full of contempt for the world and self-loathing. It is a curious state of affairs, and one that reveals more about a contemporary audiences response to the book than it does about the book itself. When a contemporary reader encounters a line such as this is the highest wisdom: through contempt of the world to aspire to the kingdom of heaven, his response is a very different one from that of a fifteenth- or nineteenth-century reader. For an uninformed response (as Stanley Fish would say) to the contemptus mundi theme, the reader must draw deeply on a vast complex of literary, linguistic, historical, and theological knowledge. Creasys translation of the Imitation strives to recreate a text that provides an analogous experience to that of the fifteenth-century reader. Relying heavily on reader-response theory, he incorporates an informed readers response into the text itself. Where possible, the text echoes both the deep structure and the surface structure of the Latineven to the point of replicating sentence structures and rhetorical devices while avoiding any distortion of the readers experience. Although the language and style of his translation has been crafted for modern readers, the fervor and power of the original text have not been lost. This translation will undoubtedly bring The Imitation of Christ a new generation of readers.

Informazioni sull'autore: William C. Creasy teaches in the department of English (writing programs) at the University of California, Los Angelos.

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Titolo: The Imitation of Christ: A New Reading of ...
Casa editrice: Mercer University Press
Data di pubblicazione: 2007
Legatura: Hardcover
Condizione: Fine