Description
Book SynopsisRenevey''s dissertation argues that self-analysis and the investigation of self through mystic and religious thought and writings is not a modern trend. He shows how 12th-century commentators, such as William of St Thierry and St Bernard of Clairvaux, used the material of the Song of Songs to experiment with a language of love to express `their mystical experiences and the discovery of their own selves''. The second part of the study traces the development of this experimentation in the commentaries of Richard Rolle, a 14th-century hermit.
Trade Review'innovatory and important [...] this sounds a very exciting book' 'no other scholar [...] has covered the range of reference which Dr Renevey outlines in his proposal, and he is perhaps uniquely qualified among current scholars to provide an in-depth study' 'this study will break new ground and will give a firm intellectual basis to the study of mystical writings'
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1 Richard of St Victor and language theory Chapter 2 Hermeneutics and degrees of love Chapter 3 Discovering the self through love Chapter 4 Rolle, misogyny and mysticism Chapter 5 Love of God and lovers of the world Chapter 6 Hermeneutics and degrees of love in the epistles Conclusion Bibliography Index
