"/HAT ART þOU?": spiritual identity and category confusion in the "South English legendary's" life of st. Christopher
"3hat art hou?" argues that the Life of St. Christopher, as recorded in The. South English Legendary, a Middle English collection of saints' lives from the late thirteenth-century, allows its audience to understand categories and delineations between groups as flexible thanks to the l...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Notre Dame
2017
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| In: |
Religion & literature
Year: 2017, Volume: 49, Issue: 3, Pages: 101-120 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages KBF British Isles KDG Free church |
| Further subjects: | B
Creation
B Spiritual Life B Christian martyrs B Saint Kitts B Jesus Christ |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | "3hat art hou?" argues that the Life of St. Christopher, as recorded in The. South English Legendary, a Middle English collection of saints' lives from the late thirteenth-century, allows its audience to understand categories and delineations between groups as flexible thanks to the link created between a monstrous giant and the incarnate Christ-child. This particular version of the vita stresses category confusion and conversion. St. Christopher's conversion from fearsome giant to Christian martyr challenges the notion that any aspect of God's creation can have a single meaning. When Christopher meets the Christ-child, the text focuses on the miraculous paradox of a child embodying limitless divine power and Christopher is left to question the humanity ol the Christ-child, even as his own humanity had been questioned. The depiction of other characters whom Christopher meets furthers the idea that categories can be subject to change and re-interpretation. By exploring the questions raised by both Christ and the gentle giant, the text offers an alternative to the predominant religious thinking of the thirteenthcentury that sought strict delineations between groups. |
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| ISSN: | 2328-6911 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & literature
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