medieval worlds • no. 7 • 2018 VERGING ON THE POLEMICAL: EXPLORING THE BOUNDARIES OF MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS POLEMIC ACROSS GENRES AND RESEARCH CULTURES
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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medieval worlds • no. 7 • 2018 VERGING ON THE POLEMICAL: EXPLORING THE BOUNDARIES OF MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS POLEMIC ACROSS GENRES AND RESEARCH CULTURES
ISSN 2412-3196 Online Edition ISBN 978-3-7001-8360-0 Online Edition
Andra Alexiu
S. 170 - 189 doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no7_2018s170 Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no7_2018s170
Abstract: The present paper explores the role that gendered concepts of teaching, preaching, and prophecy played in the polemical writings of Hildegard of Bingen. As this type of discourse was an integral part of the prophetic persona, the analysis focuses on how it shaped itself in order to remain within the boundaries of orthodoxy, which forbade women to preach. Employing a prophetic persona was one of the few means through which women were able to produce texts that could tackle problems which affected the Church in its entirety, such as heresy. The concept of teaching, more precisely the sharp distinction between good and false teaching are essential for understanding not only how Hildegard viewed her mission, but also how this mission was supposed to be carried out within the limits accepted by the Latin Church. By inspecting the manner in which bad and false teaching were thematised in order to serve as a polemical instrument, one can glean how polemics were embedded in texts. A careful analysis of the source material thus needs to start from a theoretical discussion of sermon and preaching – as the texts analyzed here have traditionally been linked with both of these concepts. Scholars usually tend to overlook the ultimately performative function of preaching, yet this is what made the concept relevant in a social context. Keywords: prophecy; teaching; preaching; audiences; public communication; heresy; gender Published Online: 2018/06/29 15:07:23 Document Date: 2018/06/29 15:02:00 Object Identifier: 0xc1aa5572 0x00390b0a Rights: .
MEDIEVAL WORLDS provides a new forum for interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Specifically it encourages and links comparative research between different regions and fields and promotes methodological innovation in transdisciplinary studies. Focusing on the Middle Ages (c. 400-1500 CE, but can be extended whenever thematically fruitful or appropriate), MEDIEVAL WORLDS takes a global approach to studying history in a comparative setting.
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |