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IMC 2006: Sessions

Session 1223: Intersections of Enclosure and Sanctity

Wednesday 12 July 2006, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:International Anchoritic Society
Organiser:Liz Herbert McAvoy, Department of English Language & Literature, Swansea University
Moderator/Chair:Liz Herbert McAvoy, Department of English Language & Literature, Swansea University
Paper 1223-aRoodscreens and Parlour Windows: Sacred and Permeable Boundaries
(Language: English)
Robert J. Hasenfratz, Department of English, University of Connecticut
Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Language and Literature - Middle English, Religious Life
Paper 1223-bLate Medieval Hagiographic Narrative and Anchoritic Spirituality
(Language: English)
Gabriella Del Lungo Camiciotti, Department of Linguistics, Università degli Studi di Firenze
Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety, Religious Life
Paper 1223-cThe Enclosed Silent Night: Sanctity and Sound in the Medieval Anchorhold
(Language: English)
Laura Saetveit Miles, Department of English, Yale University
Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Middle English, Religious Life
Abstract

This session aims to examine the ways in which sanctity is constructed within anchoritic discourse and practice, both from within the anchorhold by its solitary inhabitant him/herself, and from the outside by the compilers of hagiographic narratives. In particular, it will pay attention to changes within the sensory perceptions of the anchorite following enclosure and the meanings attributed to these new perceptions. The session will also aim to examine the extent to which these newly constructed meanings filtered out the anchorhold and affected the laity via changed literary practices within the medium of popular hagiography.