HIST 743/843: THE ENGLISH MYSTICS OF THE LATER MIDDLE AGES:
MENTORS ON PRAYER AND
THEOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
Fall Semester, 2006; Wednesdays, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Professor
Mark S. Burrows
ORIENTATION
No
mystics believed in or practiced ‘mysticism.’
They believed in and practiced Christianity (or Judaism, or Islam, or
Hinduism), that is, religions that contained mystical elements as parts of a
wider historical whole. . . .It is important to remember that mysticism is
always a process or a way of life.
Bernard
McGinn
[P]oetic
experience and mystical experience are born near one another, and near the
center of the soul, in the living springs of the preconceptual
or supraconceptual vitality of the spirit. It is not surprising that they intercross and
communicate with one another in an infinity of ways; that poetic experience
naturally predisposes the poet both to contemplation and to confusing all
manner of other things with it; and that mystical experience naturally prepares
the contemplative to make the silence of love sometimes surperabound
in poetic utterance. . . .
Jacques Maritain
Mysticism is the
poetry of religion, and therefore it is the creative spirit of Christianity.
Patrick
Grant
INTENTIONS
This seminar assumes basic familiarity with the broad
outlines of medieval history, theology, and culture in western Europe. As an introduction to a particular set of
mystical texts and treatises about prayer and the Christian life, emerging in
These texts emerged during a particularly turbulent –
indeed, revolutionary – period of English history, one marked by social unrest
and political instability, famine and peasant uprisings, ecclesiastical
divisions and international war, and waves of the devastating natural disaster
known as the plague. Such events brought
about a deep sense of the transience and uncertainties of human life, given the
looming specter of death; it was, to recall the phrase of the poet W. H. Auden, an “age of anxiety.”
(The ars moriendi
genre emerged during this era, as did a popular genre woodcuts depicting the
“dance of death.”) Our discussions will
delve into the constructive nature of the theological task as understood by
these theologians, as well as exploring the manner in which language in its
potency and limits becomes constitutive of experience. This is, in other words, a seminar on the
nature of human imagination, and its role in shaping the theological
constructions of Christian faith and life.
Within these texts we shall find multiple readings of the abiding
theological themes of sin and salvation, grace and healing, yearning for
freedom and the binding nature of obedience.
Such themes, in the hands of these authors, express the Pauline claim
that our identity is somehow “hidden” in God, yet they express this through a
persistent dependence upon common metaphors drawn from ordinary life – a
“transcendence downward,” to recall Nathan Scott’s description of a
contemporary poet named Wallace Stevens.
Their way is that of contemplation in and through and beyond the
ordinary tissue of human life, in action and in solitude, in striving and in
yielding. They stand as mentors for
those still desiring to learn to pray in their living, and live in their
praying.
Throughout the semester, we will attempt to read these
texts in light of their peculiar engagement of their readers, both medieval and
modern, responding to the invitation they articulate concerning the forming of
human experience. We shall ask how these
authors identify and authenticate genuine religious insight, shape the
foundations of human identity, and construct grammars and vocabularies of
experience of human life.
The
seminar format will place primary emphasis upon a close reading and careful
discussion of the primary texts, as noted below. Secondary readings will be on library
reserve; they provide insight into the intellectual and cultural horizon in
which these sources originate and help guard against narrowly experiential
readings of such historical texts. Some
familiarity with medieval history and theology will be presumed, since mystical
texts are cultural artifacts and not timeless expressions of dogmatic or
theological truth; nonetheless, they continue to move within an intellectual
and ecclesial tradition with distinct echoes to our own, and the critical task
of our work together will be to discern when and how we are to interpret the
proximity of such cadences. With the particularities
of their linguistic, socio-political, and cultural contexts in mind, in other
words, our primary interest will be upon the theological foreground found in these texts, and the task they set before
us: viz., that of learning to “play”
the game of faith with authenticity, fidelity, and confidence.
EXPECTATIONS
(1)
Regular
attendance in the seminar (one excused absence); active participation in
discussion.
(2)
Submission
each week of a short paragraph exploring one
salient question or critical theme from the week’s assigned readings; these are to be posted on the class “ANTS
Connect” website by 6:00 p.m. on each Tuesday preceding the seminar session.
(3)
Submission of
an extended critical essay (3000 – 4500 words) exploring one theme of relevance
that emerges in these texts, and is of importance for one’s own interior and
vocational journey. These papers are
meant to engage the forms of theological imagination emerging in the sources
studied, in terms of the wider pastoral realities facing medieval and modern
cultures. A one-page statement of
purpose – including a clear thesis statement, primary texts (as well as
specific sections) to be considered, and additional resources to be consulted
– is due to the instructor on November
8. This final paper should reflect a
deepening insight into the constructive theological methods utilized by these
sources, and suggest how these might have a continuing resonance in
contemporary life. It should adhere to a
standard form for citation of sources used (see below, Appendix 2). Due date:
December 13; exceptions only for
medical crises or personal emergencies.
(4)
The grade for
this course will reflect written work (weekly papers and final essay) as well
as participation in discussion; see appendix 1 on “grading criteria” for this
seminar.
SCHEDULE
Sep. 13 Introduction: What is “mysticism”? Orientation to the seminar, and a text study.
Read:
Walter
H. Principe, “Broadening the Focus:
Context as a Corrective Lens in Reading Historical Works in
Spirituality,” Bulletin of the Society
for the Study of Christian Spirituality 2 (1994): 1-5 [LR=library reserve]
R.
N. Swanson, “Introduction: In Search of
Pre-Reformation English Spirituality,” in Catholic
Grace
Jantzen, “Feminists, philosophers and mystics,” in Power, Gender, and Christian Mysticism
(Cambridge, England, 1995), 1 – 25 [LR]
Sep. 20 Richard Rolle, The Form of
Living, Ego Dormio
Read:
EW, 152-83; 132-42
Marion Glasscoe,
“Richard Rolle:
The Form of Living,” in English
Medieval
Mystics: Games of Faith, 58-116
[hereafter, cited as EMM; LR]
V. Gillespie, “Mystic’s Foot: Rolle and
Affectivity,” in The Medieval Tradition
In
Margaret Jennings, “Richard Rolle and the Three Degrees of Love,” Downside
Review, 193-200 [LR]
Additional:
Frances Beer, “Richard Rolle
and the
Experience
in the Middle Ages, 109-29 [LR]
Sep. 27 Walter Hilton, The Scale of Perfection
Read:
SP,
Bk. 1, 69-185
Glasscoe, “Walter Hilton:
The Heritage of Health,” in EMM,
116-64 [LR]
Oct. 4 Walter
Hilton, The Scale of Perfection
Read:
SP,
Bk. 2, 187-328
Alastair Minnis, “Affection and Imagination in The Cloud of Unknowing and Walter
Hilton’s Scale of Perfection,” Traditio 39
(1983): 323-66 [LR]
Additional:
Martin Thornton, “Prelude to the Fourteenth
Century,” and “Walter Hilton,”
In English
Spirituality: An Outline of Ascetical
Theology According to the English
Pastoral
Tradition, 167-200 [LR]
Oct. 11 Julian of
Read:
SLT,
Chs. 1-9
Denise
Nowakowski Baker, “Affective Spirituality and the
Genesis of A Book
Of Showings,” in Julian
of
Additional:
Grace
Jantzen, “Background and Biography,” in Julian of
Jantzen, “’Cry out
and write’: mysticism and the struggle
for authority,” Power,
Gender, and Christian Mysticism, 157 – 192 [LR]
Oct. 18 Julian
of
Read:
SLT,
Chs. 10-40
Mark
S. Burrows, “’Yet He Sufferyth With Vs’: Divine Asceticism in Julian
of
Additional:
Jantzen, “Julian’s Theology of Integration,” in Julian, 89-166
Baker,
“From Visualization to Vision:
Meditation and the Bodily Showings,” Julian,
40-62 [LR]
Oct. 25 Julian
of
Read:
SLT,
Chs. 41-50
Jantzen, “Reconceiving the Imago Dei: The Motherhood of Jesus and the
Ideology
of the Self,” in Julian of
Additional:
M.
Glascoe, “Julian of
Nov. 1 Julian
of
Read:
SLT,
Chs. 51-63
Baker,
“Re-Visions and A Book of Showings,”
in Julian, 135-64 [LR]
Nov. 8 Julian of
Read:
SLT, Chs. 64-86
Jantzen, “Wounds into Honours,”
in Julian of
Nov.
15 The Translation of
Pseudo-Dionysius into English
Read:
Denis’s Hidden Theology, in The
Pursuit of Wisdom and Other Works by the Author of the Cloud of Unknowing,
edited by James Walsh, 51-97; The
Assessment of Inward Stirrings, ibid., 127-56; and, A Letter on Prayer, ibid., 159-73
Jantzen, “The language of ineffability,” in Power, Gender, and Christian Mysticism, 278 – 321 [LR]
Nov. 22 No seminar; Thanksgiving recess
Nov. 29 The Cloud of Unknowing
Read:
Cloud
Denys
Turner, “The Cloud of Unknowing and
the critique of interiority,” in The
Darkness of God. Negativity in Christian
Mysticism (
Dec. 6 Prayer and mysticism then. . .and
now
Read:
Mark
S. Burrows, “Raiding the Inarticulate,” in Minding
the Spirit: The Study of Christian
Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows [LR]
Prepare a formal oral presentation (no more than 5 minutes) of your final
paper; this should clearly state your basic thesis, discussion of what is at
stake, and questions to be explored
Dec. 13 Final paper due in the instructor’s
hands; no electronic submissions, please.
APPENDIX
1: GRADING CRITERIA
NEAR FAILING
D
Poor. Attendance spotty;
assignments either late or failing to demonstrate a proper engagement with
historical sources. Inadequate execution
in fulfilling the basic requirements stated in the syllabus; not up to graduate
school standards.
AVERAGE
C
Average. Assignments mostly
complete, with some attention to the stated task, and submitted on time.
C+ Average. Assignments complete (as above).
ADEQUATE TO VERY GOOD
B-
Adequate. Written work fulfills the requirements and is
turned in on time. A satisfactory use of
sources and proper use of citations, showing a degree of original reflection
and integration. Spelling and grammar
are acceptable.
B Good. Written work demonstrates a competent
assessment of historical materials and a working familiarity with assigned
secondary sources. Spelling, grammar,
and formal presentation (footnotes, bibliography, etc.) in good order.
B+ Very
good. Written work demonstrates a
significant grasp of historical issues, and an ability to analyze such issues
through originality of interpretive approach and an integration of differing
points of view vis-à-vis the historical sources. Appropriate and insightful use of secondary
sources. Writing shows a measure of
polish with little need for editing.
EXCELLENT TO
A- Excellent. Solid understanding of the issues at stake in
the historical sources, convincing familiarity with secondary sources, and
demonstrated ability to combine critical analysis with creative reflection upon
pertinent issues. This work engages the
discussion from class and enters the conversation with other historians
consulted. Writing style is solid and
creative; no difficulties with formal matters.
A Superior. Raises the discussion of the question at hand
to a high level marked by originality of insight, constructive use of
historical materials, and an engagement of both primary sources and secondary
texts that is both critical and imaginative.
Exceptional grasp of issues and a clear ability to integrate and reflect
on them. Fluent use of both secondary
and primary source materials; polished written style, with little or no
difficulties of a formal nature.
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APPENDIX 2: GUIDELINE
FOR FOOT/ENDNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
ENTRIES
*"For
original content from online sources other than periodicals, include as much
of the following as can be determined: author of the content, title of the
page, title or owner of the site, URL." -- If this is difficult to
determine, please feel free to ask a librarian for help with identification. Form
for Additional Footnote References
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Last update: December 9, 2005; revised 5 September
2006 by M. S. Burrows. |
