The assembled body: Anatomical enumeration and embodiment in Anglo-Saxon devotional texts

Anglo-Saxon;Old English;Anglo-Latin;spirituality;devotion;lorica;charms;anatomical enumeration;body;New Materialism;Thing Theory;selfhood;identity

Williams, Kyle Joseph

关键词: Anglo-Saxon;    Old English;    Anglo-Latin;    spirituality;    devotion;    lorica;    charms;    anatomical enumeration;    body;    New Materialism;    Thing Theory;    selfhood;    identity;   

Others  :  https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/101265/WILLIAMS-DISSERTATION-2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

"The Assembled Body: Anatomical Enumeration and Embodiment in Anglo-Saxon Devotional Texts" argues that Anglo-Saxon Christians viewed the material body as a potent site for spiritual transformation. This notion finds its fullest expression in the rhetorical scheme of anatomical enumeration which appears across a diverse collection of Old English and Anglo-Latin devotional forms that range from the seventh to eleventh century, such as anonymous personal protective charms and prayers, confessional formulae, monastic execrations, scientific writing and diagrams produced Byrhtferth, as well as a number of Ælfric of Eynsham's vernacular homilies. This project demonstrates how Anglo-Saxon authors employed such enumerative anatomical catalogs to highlight the vibrancy of the flesh at moments spiritual uncertainty. Casting the material body as an assemblage of agents, this rhetorical disarticulation of the flesh enables readers to envision the realignment and reintegration of their disordered and disobedient limbs into the unity of Christ's spiritual body.