Dr. Elizabeth A. Dreyer
Course Description
As scholars work to recover the history of women in the western Christian tradition, they are discovering that medieval women were neither as silent nor invisible as has been thought. In this class, in addition to reading select secondary material, we will read and interpret several primary sources in translation by medieval women. Goals of the course include a) familiarity with recent discussions on women’s spirituality, feminism and postmodernism; b) the mastery of methods used in the critical analysis of medieval texts (that date from approximately 200-1500); c) a basic understanding of the social and historical context of these texts; d) a grasp of the texts’ religious content and meaning; and e) analysis of how this material might be relevant to contemporary interests and concerns.
Required Texts
Mark Salzman. Lying Awake. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2000. [See The New Yorker (October 2, 2000): 74-86.
Shawn Madigan, ed., Mystics, Visionaries & Prophets: A Historical Anthology of
Women’s Spiritual Writings. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998.
Teresa of Avila. The Interior Castle. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist, 1979.
1. Careful reading of all assignments and active participation in class. Attendance at all classes is required. Unexcused absences will affect grade adversely. Please have copy of the relevant text with you in class. 20%
2. Four textual analysis papers (includes leading one class discussion). 40%.
3. Final paper. 40%. Topic must be worked out with professor. Due Monday, May 7 at 1:30 p.m. or before.
UNIT I:
FICTION: A WINDOW ONTO WOMEN’S MONASTIC COMMUNITY LIFE
IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Read: Salzman, Lying Awake.
Salzman grew up in Ridgefiled, CT and now lives outside LA. He was a serious student of the oboe, then the cello, and kung fu as a child, and majored in Chinese as an undergraduate at Yale, graduating in 1982. After college he taught English at a medical college in Hunan Province in China. Upon his return, he wrote about his experiences in Iron & Silk (1986). He married Jessica Yu, the daughter of a Shanghai-born oncologist, who now makes independent documentary films. Salzman’s first novel was The Soloist about a young cello player. This novel presages his later Lying Awake in its opening lines: “This morning I read an article suggesting that Saint Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth-century Spanish mystic noted for her ecstatic visions, suffered from a neurological disorder known to cause hallucinations.”
Salzman describes himself as an agnostic, certainly not a Catholic. Lying Awake took shape after Salzman read a tale by neurologist Oliver Sacks about an Italian immigrant whose temporal-lobe epilepsy resulted in visions of his boyhood village so vivid that he was compelled to paint them. Sacks points out that such epilepsies are sometimes characterized by an intensification of emotional life and a general sense of illumination and faith. Saint Paul, Gustave Flaubert, Vincent Van Gogh, Lewis Carroll, and Fyodor Dostoevsky were all thought to have temporal-lobe epilepsy.
Salzman found himself imagining what it would be like for someone committed to religious life to develop this disorder. The novel explores the nature of religious experience and artistic inspiration; raises questions about whether Sr. John of the Cross’s experiences confirm or debunk her vocation and about whether or not she should choose a “cure” that might end the experiences. Was hers an authentic relationship with God or was it solely her own desire to be holy? Salzman spent years agonizing over the production of this book. Away at a writer’s retreat in New Hampshire, almost six years after undertaking the work, it comes together. His character, Sr. John, had dedicated her life to living by her faith, not reason. He lived by reason. Then he discovers that the artistic wager – the commitment to devote ever-lengthening years of one’s life to the production of a work of art; the conviction that such a commitment will make any difference to anyone else – is manifestly unreasonable. “I take it on faith that art is worthwhile. I go on because I believe it’s the right thing to do, not because I know it is.”
“In ordinary life, we face dissonances every day which we can’t resolve – there’s not enough time, we don’t have the authority or the influence or the knowledge. But when we write or listen or read or play we relive the experience of making the journey from chaos to order, and that feeds us, reminds us, heartens us, gives us courage to face all the journeys where there is no such promise.” Salzman begins to understand that you cannot make great art happen; you can only prepare yourself for it to happen.
Questions for Reflection/Analysis
- What is the structure of the novel?
- What is its setting? What is the significance of the setting?
- How do the chapter headings relate to the story line?
- What did you learn about monastic life?
- Who is John of the Cross?
- What insight do you get about the lives of the sisters in community? How would you describe their relationships?
- How might one look at the relationship between science and religion? Between medicine and faith?
- Describe the contours of Sr. John’s crisis of faith? Does this portrayal shed light on the larger crisis in western society? In our own lives?
[Another highly recommended recent novel on the theme of women mystics is Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1992). A recent historical treatment of monastic life in the seventeenth century is entitled Sister Margaret.]
EARLY CHRISTIANITY:DREAMS, TALES AND MARTYRS
Read: Dreyer, Passionate Spirituality, Chapter 2.
Madigan, pp. 9-25.
Further Reading:
Franz.
Perpetua’s Passion, Joyce Salisbury
What Would You Die for? Perpetua’s Passion, Joseph J. Walsh.
Perpetua: A Bride, A Passion, A Martyr, Amy Rachel Peterson.
FEMINISM, POSTMODERNISM, AND THE CHURCH
February 5:
Read: Serene Jones: “Bounded Openness: Postmodernism, Feminism, and the Church Today”
Interpretation 55/1 (January 2001): 49-59.
February 8:
Read: Gloria L. Schaab, “Feminist Theological Method: Toward a Kaleidoscopic Model,”
Theological Studies 62/2 (June 2001): 341-65.
Additional Reading:
King, Ursula, Women and Spirituality: Voices of Protest and Promise: Chapter 6: “Voices of a
New Theology”, pp. 160-205.
Schneiders, Sandra, With Oil in Their Lamps: Faith, Feminism, and the Future, 2000.
UNIT IV:
MEDIEVAL WOMEN MYSTICS
February 12 and 15: Hildegard of Bingen
Read: Dreyer, Passionate Spirituality: Chapter 3.
Madigan, pp. 91-108.
Paper #1 due on February 12: a) Salzman; b) Passio Perpetua; c) feminism methodology
Additional Resources:
Perrin: pp. ix-xxi; 3-52; 143-155.
Barbara Newman, Sister of Wisdom.
Bauerschmidt, Frederick, Why the Mystics Matter Now, Chapter 5: “How To Be Green:
Hildegard of Bingen on Viriditas,” pp. 95-114.
February 22: Héloïse
Read: Madigan, pp. 109-128.
February 26 and March 1:
Hadewijch of Brabant
Read: Madigan: pp. 166-190.
Dreyer, Passionate Women: Two Medieval Mystics, Chapter 4
Additional Resources:
Petroff, pp. 189-200.
Murk-Jensen, Saskia. Brides in the Desert: The Spirituality of the Beguines. Traditions of
Christian Spirituality Series. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1998.
March 5 and 8: Julian of Norwich March 8: 1-2 paragraphs due on final paper proposal.
Read: Madigan: pp. 191-208.
Paper #2 due on March 5: a) Hildegard; b) Héloïse; c) Hadewijch; d) Julian
Additional Resources:
Perrin, pp. 89-108 and 109-128.
Julian of Norwich, (CWS) Introduction, pp. 17-119.
Joan M. Nuth. Wisdom’s Daughter: The Theology of Julian of Norwich
Bauerschmidt, Frederick, Why the Mystics Matter Now, Chapter 6: “How To Be
Blue: Julian of Norwich on Weal and Woe,” pp. 115-132.
Spiritus: an entire issue of this journal is dedicated to Julian 5/1 (Spring 2005).
Kerrie Hide, Gifted Origins to Graced Fulfillment: The Soteriology of Julian of Norwich.
UNIT V:
JOAN OF ARC AND THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
March 19:
Video: Mary Gordon, “Faith and Reason” series with Bill Moyers.
March 22
Mary Gordon, Joan of Arc
March 26
“Joan of Arc”: Carl Dreier Film, 82 minutes.
March 29
Witch burnings -- Guest Speaker: Debbie Spaide
Read: Mary Froelich, “Thérèse of Lisieux and Jeanne d’Arc: History, Memory, and Interiority in
the Experience of Vocation.”
April 2:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16772/16772-8.txt
Contents of this website:PROLOGUE: PARENTAGE AND BIRTHAUTOBIOGRAPHY
Chapter I. Earliest Memories II. A Catholic Household III. Pauline Enters the Carmel IV. First Communion and Confirmation V. Vocation of Thérèse VI. A Pilgrimage to Rome VII. The Little Flower Enters the Carmel VIII. Profession of Soeur Thérèse IX. The Night of the Soul X. The New Commandment XI. A Canticle of Love
EPILOGUE: A VICTIM OF DIVINE LOVE. COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES. LETTERS OF SOEUR THÉRÈSE To Céline To Mother Agnes of Jesus To Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart To Sister Frances Teresa To Marie Guérin To Jeanne Guérin To Missionaries
PRAYERS OF SOEUR THÉRÈSE Her Act of Oblation A Morning Prayer Act of Consecration to the Holy Face Prayer in Honour of the Holy Child Prayer to the Holy Child Prayer to the Holy Face Prayer in Honour of St. Joan of Arc Prayer to Obtain Humility
DAYS OF GRACE
SELECTED POEMS My Song of To-day Memories I Thirst for Love To Scatter Flowers Why I Love Thee, Mary
Additional Resources:
Perrin, pp. 157-172.
Bauerschmidt, Frederick, Why the Mystics Matter Now, Chapter 1: “How To Live in a
World Without God: Thérèse of Lisieux and the Trial of Faith, pp. 23-38.
Film “Thérèse” 94 minutes. 5-7 p.m.
Additional Resources:
Perrin, pp. 157-172.
April 5
Read: Bauerschmidt, Frederick, Why the Mystics Matter Now, Chapter 1: “How To Live in a
World Without God: Thérèse of Lisieux and the Trial of Faith, pp. 23-38.
Thérèse of Lisieux: TBA
Readings also available at : http://www.ewtn.com/therese/readings/Wkreadng.htm
Paper #3 due: a) Joan of Arc; b) Thérèse of Lisieux; c) comparative study of one topic
April 9 Easter break
UNIT VI: TERESA OF AVILA
April 12 Research class in the library with Jackie Kremer.
April 16 Teresa of Avila: Mansions 1-2
Read: Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, pp. xi-xix and pp. 1-29 and
Mansions 1 and 2.
[Topic, Methodology, Bibliography, for final paper due]
Additional Resources
Madigan, pp. 247-250; 266.
Bilinkoff, Jodi. The Avila of Saint Teresa: Religious Reform in a Sixteenth Century
City. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989.
Lincoln, Victoria. Teresa A Woman. Albany: Suny, 1984.
Luti, Mary. Teresa of Avila's Way. Collegeville, MN: Michael Glazier, 1991.
Medwick, Cathleen. Teresa of Avila: The Progress of A Soul. New York: Knopf, 1999.
Seelaus, Vilma. "Teresa, Feminism and the Humanity of Christ." Spirituality Today 42(Summer
1990): 111-125.
Sinnige-Breed, Afra. "Personality and Psychological Development in Teresa of Avila." Theology
Digest. 12 (1964): 60-63.
Slade, Carole. St. Teresa of Avila: Author of A Heroic Life. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1995. Reviewed by Joan Nuth in Cross Currents 46/4(Winter 1996/1997): 751-72.
Weber, Alison. Teresa of Avila and the Rhetoric of Feminity. Princeton University Press, 1990.
Welch, John. Spiritual Pilgrims. New York: Paulist, 1982.
Williams, Rowan. Teresa of Avila. Morehouse, 1991.
April 19 Teresa of Avila: Mansions 3-4
April 23 Teresa of Avila: Mansions 5-7
Paper #4 due: Textual analysis of some aspect of Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle.
April 26 Wrap up. Evaluations.
April 30 No class. Time to work on final paper.
Select Bibliography
Brunn, Emilie Zum and Georgette Epiney-Burgard. Women Mystics in Medieval Europe.
NY:Paragon, 1989.
Bynum,Carolyn Walker. Jesus As Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages.
Berkeley: University of CA Press, 1982.
_____. "Women's Stories, Women's Symbols: A Critique of Victor Turner's Theory of
Liminality." in Anthropology and the Study of Religions. Ed. Frank E. Reynolds and
Robert Moore. Chicago: Center for the Study of Religion, 1984.
_____. Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women.
Berkley, CA: University of CA Press, 1987.
_____. "The Female Body and Religious Practice in the Later Middle Ages." In Fragments for a
History of the Human Body: Part One, ed. Michel Feher, with Ramona Naddaff and
Nadia Tazi. NY:Urzone, 1989.
_____. ed. Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion. New York: Zone Books, 1991.
_____. The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200-1336. Lectures on the History of Religions sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies, New Series,
Number 15. New York: Columbia Univeristy Press, 1995
Bynum, C., Harrell, S. and Richman, P. eds. Gender and Religion: On the Complexity of
Symbols. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986.
Callahan, Sidney. Women Who Hear Voices: The Challenge of Religious Experience. Madeleva
Lecture. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2003.
Conn, Joann, ed. Women’s Spirituality: Resources for Christian Development. 2nd ed.
Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1996.
Lynch, Joseph H. The Medieval Church : A Brief History. London and New York: 1998 (1992).
Murk-Jensen, Saskia. Brides in the Desert: The Spirituality of the Beguines. Traditions of
Christian Spirituality Series. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1998.
Ferrante, Joan M. Woman as Image in Medieval Literature. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1975.
_____. To the Glory of Her Sex: Women’s Roles in the Composition of Medieval Texts.
Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana Press, 1997.
Fischer, Clare B. Of Spirituality: A Feminist Perspective. ATLA Bibliography Series, No. 35.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996.
Grundmann, Herbert. Religious Movements in the Middle Ages. Univesity of Notre
Dame, 1995.
Jansen, Grace M. Power, Gender and Christian Mysticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1995.
Kieckhefer, Richard. Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth-Century Saints and Their Religious Milieu.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
King, Ursula. Christian Mystics. Mahwah, New Jersey: HiddenSpring/Paulist, 2001.
_____. Women and Spirituality: Voices of Promise and Protest. New York: New Amsterdam,
1989.
Kirshner, Julius and Suzanne F. Wemple, eds. Women of the Medieval World: Essays in
Honor of John H. Mundy. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1985.
Klapisch-Zuber, Christiane, ed. A History of Women: Silences of the Middle Ages. Vol.
2. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992.
Labarge, Margaret Wade. A Small Sound of the Trumpet: Women in Medieval Life. Boston:
Beacon Press, 198?.
Madigan, Shawn, ed. Mystics, Visionaries and Prophets: A Historical Anthology of
Women’s Spiritual Writings Mpls: Augsburg Fortress, 1998.
McLaughlin, Eleanor. "Women, Power and the Pursuit of Holiness in Medieval Christianity." In
Women of Spirit eds. Rosemary Radford Ruether and Eleanor McLaughlin. New York:
Simon and Schuster, 1979. pp. 99-130.
McLaughlin, Eleanor. "Equality of Souls, Inequality of Sexes: Women in Medieval Theology."
In Religion and Sexism. Ed. Rosemary Ruether. NY:Simon and Schuster, 1974, pp. 213-
266.
Newman, Barbara. From Virile Woman to WomanChrist. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1995.
Nichols, J. and L. Shank, eds. Peace Weavers:Medieval Religious Women. Vol 1. Kalamazoo,
MI: Cistercian Press, 1987.
_____. Distant Echoes:Medieval Religious Women. Vol 2.
_____. Hidden Springs: Cistercian Monastic Women Vol 3 (Books One and Two)
Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1995.
David B. Perrin, ed., Women Christian Mystics Speak to Our Times. Sheed & Ward, 2001.
Petroff, Elizabeth Alvilda, ed. Medieval Women’s Visionary Literature New York and
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
_____. Body and Soul: Essays on Medieval Women and Mysticism. NY:Oxford,
1994.
_____. ed. Medieval Women's Visionary Literature. New York and Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1986.
Rader, Rosemary. Breaking Boundaries: Male/Female Friendship in Early Christian
Communities. New York: Paulist Press, 1983.
Ruffing, Janet. Mysticism & Social Transformation. Syracuse University: Syracuse University
Press, 2001.
Stuard, Susan Mosher, ed. Women in Medieval Society. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1976.
_____. "The Dominion of Gender: Women's Fortunes in the High Middle Ages." In Becoming
Visible: Women in European History, 2nd ed. Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koontz, and
Susan Mosher Stuard. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987, 153-75.
_____, ed. Women in Medieval Histsory and Historiography. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1987.
Tavard, George. Women in the Christian Tradition.
Wiethaus, Ulrike, ed. Maps of Flesh and Light: The Religious Experience of Medieval Women
Mystics. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1993.
_____. "Sexuality, Gender, and the Body in Late Medieval Women's Spirituality." Journal of
Feminist Studies in Religion. 7/1 (1991): 35-53.
Wilson, Katharina, ed. Medieval Women Writers. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984.
Final Paper Suggestions
An excellent resource for research on various aspects of women is the Madeleva Lectures which can be found at the following address.: http://www.saintmarys.edu/~cfs/madlecturers.html
--Choose a focused theme and explore it in the writings of one women, e.g., Hildegard of Bingen on “greening”; the image of the human person in Héloïse.
--How does a given author present her understanding of sin and grace (Christian anthropology)?
--Trace the image of God in a single author or compare two authors, e.g., how does the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit show up in the primary texts.
--Explore how a given author describes the spiritual life and relate it to women’s lives today.
--Trace particular symbols or images in a given author and interpret their meaning in light of the Christian theological and spiritual traditions.
--Identify and relate themes of feminist theology with the primary texts we have read this semester.
--How do the women we have read treat the body? How does the body show up in these texts? How do the women relate body to spirit?
--Analyze the key elements of feminist methodology and show how you relate it to the primary texts we have read this semester.
--Develop some aspect of martyrdom related to women. There is a growing body of literature on women who have been killed for the faith in the 20th century. Can you link this to the history of women dying for the faith?
--Analyze evidence of male/female relationships. What evidence do we have? How would you describe them? [John W. Coakley’s Women, Men, & Spiritual Power: Female Saints & Their Male Collaborators (2006) would be a good resource here.]
--Develop some aspect of the witch craze related to women.
--Read and analyze a novel related to women and monasticism in light of the semester’s work.
--Explore psychological themes relevant to the readings of the course.
--Analyze the dimensions of action and contemplation in the mystical tradition. How does this tradition speak to our own very busy 21st century lives?
--Analyze different lifestyles available to women in the Middle Ages and relate them to today, e.g., beguines, anchoresses, third order, vowed monastic life, lay.
--How do traces of an immanent/transcendent God show up in these authors?
--Explore the theme of the “bride/lover” of Christ.
--Explore apophatic and kataphatic approaches to the spiritual life? Is gender a relevant factor in your opinion?
--How does an individual medieval woman discuss the relationship between faith and reason?
--Present a critical comparison/analysis of secondary authors who write on medieval women, e.g., the lives of Teresa by Carole Slade and Victoria Lincoln, using your knowledge of Teresa’s Interior Castle.
--Explore the role of virtues in a given author’s work. What virtues are favored? How are they defined? What role do they play in the spiritual life?
--Engage in a creative presentation that explores the intersection (or lack thereof) between female university students today and the material from the course.
--How do specific medieval women writers treat food? What are the connections to fasting? To the Eucharist? [Caroline Walker Bynum is a good resource for this topic.]
--Design your own project on a theme that interests you.
--Study some aspect of women in the Hebrew Scriptures and/or the New Testament.
--Compare the role of women in the church in the Middle Ages and today. What do the texts we have read tell you about how the church was perceived, addressed?
Criteria for written work:
- Correct spelling and grammar and absence of typographical errors is an expectation. Please proof -read your papers and/or have someone else proof read them for errors.
- Titles can be used to great advantage in the interest of creativity and insight into the topic of the paper.
- Initial paragraphs should include a) your chosen topic; how you arrived at this topic; and why it is important; b) your basic thesis; c) methodology.
- Your topic needs to be quite focused. Do not take on huge themes like “The History of Medieval Women.” Rather you need to ask quite specific questions, such as “In the Interior Castle, what kind of language and imagery does Teresa of Avila use when she talks about Jesus Christ?” Or, “What are the three most prominent virtues in the Revelations of Julian of Norwich?” Or, “What does Teresa reveal about her own self-knowledge?”
- Logical progression (including stated transitions) from one focus to another within your overall topic. Sub-headings can be helpful, allowing your reader to follow the progression of your thought. The rule of thumb is: “Take your reader by the hand.” The reader should not have to work to figure out what is in your head.
- Clarity of expression.
- Evidence that you comprehend what you are writing – that you have appropriated the material and made it “your own.” Avoid moving material from books and notes to your paper without its having gone through your own head, i.e., without your understanding of the material. This requires that you relate aspects of the material to some aspect of knowledge that you already have. Try to discover ways to “test” whether you truly understand the material, e.g., try to explain it someone or discuss it with others.
- While some description may be required, the focus of all writing assignments is critical analysis. You need to ask questions like: What is the author trying to say? What is the author’s goal, perspective? Why is this topic important? In your estimation, what are the most important points raised? Are there major elements that have been left out? Are there things with which you disagree and what arguments would you offer to support your own position? What did you learn from this experience/research? What new/further questions does the material raise for you? Ask the “so what?” question, i.e., what difference does this material make to you, to others, to the world? Why is it or is it not significant in the larger framework of life?
- Synthetic thinking is preferred. Your paper should reflect your own synthesis of material in and beyond the course. What connections do you see between your paper and a) the books we have read in class; b) class discussions; c) other assignments; d) other classes/disciplines/things you have read or learned; e) previous life experience? This can involve comparing and contrasting this material with other things you know, or bringing elements from a variety of sources together.
- Always imagine an audience for your writing. The goal of writing is to communicate -- to express your ideas clearly and help the reader learn something new and interesting. What can you say and how can you say it in a way that will draw the reader into the paper; spark the reader’s interest; help the reader understand what you are trying to say?
- Creativity. How can you inject creativity into the paper? Can you say something in a fresh or artistic way that will engage the reader, help you make your point and lead the reader to new insight?
- Begin and end your paper (and perhaps at certain points throughout the paper, with comments about what the topic means to you as a young woman of the 21st century; why you were led to choose this topic; how you think it is useful (or not) to women today.