IMC 2003: Sessions
Session 613: Anchorites and Mystics, II
Tuesday 15 July 2003, 11.15-12.45
| Sponsor: | The Anchoritic Society |
|---|---|
| Organiser: | Liz Herbert McAvoy, Department of English Language & Literature, Swansea University |
| Moderator/Chair: | Mari Hughes-Edwards, University of Salford / Liverpool John Moores University |
| Paper 613-a | Prophetic Power: The Relationship between Carmelite Friars and Anchorites (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Monasticism, Religious Life |
| Paper 613-b | On Whose Authority?: Debate over the Function of the 'Eye of the Heart' in the Writings of Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and the Cloud-Author (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety, Religious Life |
| Paper 613-c | The Fulfillment of Mystical Desire: Contemplating the Pearl-Maiden (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety, Sexuality |
| Abstract | This session addresses connections and conflicts within and between mystical discourses and how various competing models of mystical spiritual authority are both contested and reconciled, and to what ends. Paper One focuses on the self-conscious links forged between Carmelites and anchorites in the quest for spiritual authority. Paper Two assesses the level of discursive conflict between Rolle, the Cloud-author and Hilton arising from competing models of spiritual authority. Paper Three promotes the usefulness of mysticism as a lens through which to examine 'transitional' texts such as 'Pearl' which bridge the gap between the secular mysticism of the dream-vision and the eroticised consummation of the mystical text. |