Bridging the Difference: Reconceptualising the Angel in Medieval Hagiography
This article explores tensions inherent in representations of the angel in some late medieval texts using Irigaray's concept of an ‘ethics of alterity’. I contend that the angel has a dual valency, witnessed at the site of the body. It is simultaneously a masculine construct, a tangible index o...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2002
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| In: |
Literature and theology
Year: 2002, Volume: 16, Issue: 3, Pages: 235-247 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This article explores tensions inherent in representations of the angel in some late medieval texts using Irigaray's concept of an ‘ethics of alterity’. I contend that the angel has a dual valency, witnessed at the site of the body. It is simultaneously a masculine construct, a tangible index of holy worth associated with the ocular and a feminised, ambiguous symbol allied to scent, sound and touch, thus highlighting and eliding sexual difference. The angel, then, is not simply a messenger but a bridge between humans and God, between men and women, one that affirms the mutuality of a loving relationship. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/16.3.235 |