IMC 2014: Sessions
Session 1535: Body and Soul in Medieval Literature
Thursday 10 July 2014, 09.00-10.30
Organiser: | Rebecca Maryan, Department of History, University of Nottingham |
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Moderator/Chair: | Daniel McCann, St Anne's College, University of Oxford |
Paper 1535-a | Miracles for the Mad: A Hagiographical Study of Body and Mind (Language: English) Index terms: Hagiography, Medicine |
Paper 1535-b | Beating the Bride into Shape: Domestic Violence within Bridal Mysticism (Language: English) Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - German |
Paper 1535-c | Language of the Humours in Middle English Guides for Spiritual and Bodily Health (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Lay Piety, Medicine |
Abstract | This session will focus on the relationship between body and soul in medieval literature. The first paper examines the representation of mental illness in 12th-and 13th-century English miracle texts to demonstrate how saints functioned as physical, mental, and spiritual healers. The second paper will address two Middle High German allegorical texts which present corporeal punishment within the context of bridal mysticism, paying particular attention to the ways in which the presentation of the body encourages a blurring of the literal and the allegorical levels of interpretation. The final paper will examine ideas about body and soul in Middle English medical and spiritual guides through the comparative lens of humoral discourse. |