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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 217: Does Matter Matter to Medieval Mystics?, II: Spatial and Material Metaphors in Mystical Texts

Monday 1 July 2019, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Mystical Theology Network / Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen, KU Leuven
Organiser:Rob Faesen, Institute for the Study of Spirituality, KU Leuven / Ruusbroecgenootschap, Universiteit Antwerpen
Moderator/Chair:Joost Baneke, Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen, KU Leuven
Paper 217-aDrunk in Love: The Motif of the Mystical Wine Cellar in Spiritual Literature from the Medieval Low Countries
(Language: English)
Lydia Shahan, Institute for the Study of Spirituality, KU Leuven / Ruusbroecgenootschap, Universiteit Antwerpen
Index terms: Religious Life, Sermons and Preaching, Theology
Paper 217-bBroken Objects, Broken Bodies: Materiality in the Mulieres Religiosae
(Language: English)
Sander Vloebergs, Institute for the Study of Spirituality, KU Leuven
Index terms: Hagiography, Religious Life, Theology
Paper 217-cPetrus Croon's Mystical Kitchen: How the Cook Jan van Leeuwen Was Lionized in the 17th Century
(Language: English)
John Arblaster, Institute for the Study of Spirituality, KU Leuven / Ruusbroecgenootschap, Universiteit Antwerpen
Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Dutch, Theology
Abstract

These three sessions explore questions around the status of (im)materiality in mystical-theological discourse in a variety of medieval places, times, and languages. Is the purpose of mystical discourse ultimately to lead to the annihilation of the body and the self in union with God or is there abiding value to the material world? The papers in these sessions will address this central theological question from a variety of perspectives, including theoretical approaches that inquire into the nature of contemplation and union with God, the use of spatial and material metaphors in mystical texts, and questions surrounding the body and the self.