IMC 2009: Sessions

Session 224: Space Oddity: Representation and Construction of the Carthusian Self

Monday 13 July 2009, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:	Cartusiana vzw
Organiser:	Tom Gaens, Cartusiana vzw, Zelem
Moderator/Chair:	Jens Röhrkasten, School of History & Cultures, University of Birmingham
Paper 224-a	Feeling your Words in my Mouth: Communal Interactions in Carthusian Epistolae (Language: English) Stephen J. Molvarec, Department of History, University of Notre Dame Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Monasticism
Paper 224-b	Be Manly: Gendered Identity in the Late Medieval Reform of the Carthusian Virginity Consecration Rite (Language: English) Tom Gaens, Cartusiana vzw, Zelem Index terms: Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 224-c	Typology and Symbology in Carthusian Architecture (Language: English) Birgit Dukers, Buro4 Monument & Ruimte, Roermond Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Monasticism
Abstract	Throughout the history of the Carthusian Order, charterhouses and their inhabitants have always exercised a peculiar fascination. The aim of this session, organised by Cartusiana, a Belgian-Dutch network of Carthusian researchers (www.cartusiana.org), is to study the medieval charterhouse as 'place apart' and symbolic space. Especially the Carthusian monks often established self-willed and dissenting identities, unique among the contemplatives and in the Western Church, by developing and using their own specific forms of symbolism. Bringing together specialists from various disciplines, the session focuses on Carthusian self-representation as a spiritual ideal and a historical dynamic, as revealed by architecture, ritual, and writings.