A Companion to Julian of Norwich - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1843844044 ISBN 13: 9781843844044

Publisher: D. S. Brewer, 2015

Synopsis

Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth/early fifteenth-century anchoress and mystic, is one of the most important and best-known figures of the Middle Ages. Her Revelations, intense visions of the divine, have been widely studied and read; the first known writings of an English woman, their influence extends over theology and literature. However, many aspects of both her life and thought remain enigmatic.
This exciting new collection offers a comprehensive, accessible coverage of the key aspects of debate surrounding Julian. It places the author within a wide range of contemporary literary, social, historical and religious contexts, and also provides a wealth of new insights into manuscript traditions, perspectives on her writing and ways of interpreting it, building on the work of many of the most active and influential researchers within Julian studies, and including the fruits of the most recent, ground-breaking findings. It will therefore be a vital companion for all of Julian's readers in the twenty-first century.

Dr Liz Herbert McAvoy is Senior Lecturer in Gender in English and Medieval Studies at Swansea University.

Contributors: Denise M. Baker, Alexandra Barratt, Marleen Cré, Elisabeth Dutton,Vincent Gillespie, Cate Gunn, Ena Jenkins, E.A. Jones, Liz Herbert McAvoy, Laura Saetveit Miles, Kim M. Philips, Elizabeth Robertson, Sarah Salih, Annie Sutherland, Diane Watt, Barry Windeatt.

Table of Contents

Introduction: `God forbade...that I am a techere': Who or what was Julian?
Femininities and the Gentry in Late Medieval East Anglia: Ways of Being - Kim M Phillips
`A recluse atte Norwyche': Images of Medieval Norwich and Julian's Revelati ons - Cate Gunn
`No such sitting': Julian Tropes the Trinity - John Sexton, Book Reviews Editor
Julian of Norwich and the Varieties of Middle English Mystical Discourse - Denise N Baker
Saint Julian of the Apocalypse - Diane Watt
Anchoritic Aspects of Julian of Norwich - E A Jones
Julian of Norwich and the Liturgy - Annie Sutherland
Julian's Second Thoughts: The Long Text Tradition - Barry A Windeatt
`This blessed beholdyng': Reading the Fragments from Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Divine Love in London, Westminster Cathedral Treasury MS4MS4 - Marleen Cre
The Seventeenth-century Manuscript Tradition and the Influence of Augustine Baker - Elisabeth Dutton
Julian of Norwich's `Modernist Style' and the Creation of Audience - Elizabeth Robertson
Space and Enclosure in Julian of Norwich's A Revelation of Love - Laura Saetveit Miles
`For we be doubel of God's making': Writing, Gender and the Body in Julian of Norwich - Liz Herbert McAvoy
Julian's Revelation of Love: A Web of Metaphor - Ena Jenkins
`[S]he do the police in different voices': Pastiche, Ventriloquism and Parody in Julian of Norwich - Vincent Gillespie
Julian's Afterlives - Sarah Salih
Bibliography
Index

About this title

Review:

A book that amply rewards its readers with a helpful overview of the current state of Julian scholarship as well as a guide to fitting the many fascinating aspects of Julian's writing into a coherent whole. SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOURNAL The most significant contribution to Julian studies in 2008. YEAR'S WORK IN ENGLISH STUDIES It is good to have a study that places this so often most decontextualised of English mystics amongst contemporary writings and readers. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY By honestly summarizing what we do know about Julian, and then providing a range of interesting interpretations of this, the volume is definitely a stimulating introduction to contemporary debates around Julian. (...) The book is an excellent companion (...). PARERGON This Companion is most welcome. BULLETIN CODICOLOGIQUE This collection provides accessible coverage of a range of debates about this popular late medieval figure. Containing important new work and tracing well-known debates about Julian, it will be a useful companion for both teachers and researchers. JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY Provides a valuable examination of current debates about the facts and assumptions regarding Julian's life and texts. (...) I strongly recommend it as a library purchase for the use of serious researchers as well as teachers introducing their students to Julian. THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW It is refreshing to be reminded that scholarship is of value for its own sake, and can reveal insights in familiar texts that continue to awaken our attention to what God still seeks to reveal to us. The second half of the collection contains some fascinating observations on interpretation which really begin to dig deep into the genius of Julian and why she holds such attraction for us today. CHURCH TIMES

About this edition

• Publisher: D. S. Brewer
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1843844044
• ISBN 13: 9781843844044
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264
• Editor: McAvoy Liz Herbert