The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism

The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism PDF Author: Geoffrey Galt Harpham
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226316904
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
In this bold interdisciplinary work, Geoffrey Galt Harpham argues that asceticism has played a major role in shaping Western ideas of the body, writing, ethics, and aesthetics. He suggests that we consider the ascetic as "the 'cultural' element in culture," and presents a close analysis of works by Athanasius, Augustine, Matthias, Grünewald, Nietzsche, Foucault, and other thinkers as proof of the extent of asceticism's resources. Harpham demonstrates the usefulness of his findings by deriving from asceticism a "discourse of resistance," a code of interpretation ultimately more generous and humane than those currently available to us.

The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism

The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism PDF Author: Geoffrey Galt Harpham
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226316904
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this bold interdisciplinary work, Geoffrey Galt Harpham argues that asceticism has played a major role in shaping Western ideas of the body, writing, ethics, and aesthetics. He suggests that we consider the ascetic as "the 'cultural' element in culture," and presents a close analysis of works by Athanasius, Augustine, Matthias, Grünewald, Nietzsche, Foucault, and other thinkers as proof of the extent of asceticism's resources. Harpham demonstrates the usefulness of his findings by deriving from asceticism a "discourse of resistance," a code of interpretation ultimately more generous and humane than those currently available to us.

Asceticism and Its Critics

Asceticism and Its Critics PDF Author: Oliver Freiberger
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199719013
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Scholars of religion have always been fascinated by asceticism. Some have even regarded this radical way of life-- the withdrawal from the world, combined with practices that seriously affect basic bodily needs, up to extreme forms of self-mortification --as the ultimate form of a true religious quest. This view is rooted in hagiographic descriptions of prominent ascetics and in other literary accounts that praise the ascetic life-style. Scholars have often overlooked, however, that in the history of religions ascetic beliefs and practices have also been strongly criticized, by followers of the same religious tradition as well as by outsiders. The respective sources provide sufficient evidence of such critical strands but surprisingly as yet no attempt has been made to analyze this criticism of asceticism systematically. This book is a first attempt of filling this gap. Ten studies present cases from both Asian and European traditions: classical and medieval Hinduism, early and contemporary Buddhism in South and East Asia, European antiquity, early and medieval Christianity, and 19th/20th century Aryan religion. Focusing on the critics of asceticism, their motives, their arguments, and the targets of their critique, these studies provide a broad range of issues for comparison. They suggest that the critique of asceticism is based on a worldview differing from and competing with the ascetic worldview, often in one and the same historical context. The book demonstrates that examining the critics of asceticism helps understand better the complexity of religious traditions and their cultural contexts. The comparative analysis, moreover, shows that the criticism of asceticism reflects a religious worldview as significant and widespread in the history of religions as asceticism itself is.

Culture, Politics and Governing

Culture, Politics and Governing PDF Author: P. Nickel
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137401974
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
Culture, Politics, and Governing: The Contemporary Ascetics of Knowledge Production is a critical, interdisciplinary approach to how the practices that govern the production of knowledge and culture have material consequences for how we experience everyday life.

Theology as Ascetic Act

Theology as Ascetic Act PDF Author: Nathan G. Jennings
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9781433109904
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Nathan G. Jennings's captivating study explores the ascetical logic of the various practices that Christians call theology. By establishing ascetic practice as coherent within the logic of Christian thought, Jennings argues that Christian theology itself, as an embodied Christian practice, is a type of and participant in Christian asceticism. Jennings establishes that the implications of such an understanding of Christian theology can be brought to bear on modern Christian scholarship in profound and transformative ways. With engagements and references that span a vast terrain from Patristic authors to modern systematic theologians, Theology as Ascetic Act: Disciplining Christian Discourse is a significant contribution to both modern Christian thought and the study of asceticism.

Masks of Difference

Masks of Difference PDF Author: David Richards
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521479721
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Writings about and depictions of 'savage' peoples by conquering races as a form of textual practice.

The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers

The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers PDF Author:
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 0879071125
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
2022 Catholic Media Association second place award in theology: history of theology, church fathers and mothers The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers offers a new translation of the Greek alphabetical Apophthegmata Patrum, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. For the first time in an English translation, this volume provides: extensive background and contextual notes significant variant readings in the alphabetical manuscripts and textual differences vis-à-vis the systematic and anonymous Apophthegmata reference notes to both quotations from Scriptures and the many allusions to Scripture in the sayings and stories. In addition, there is an extensive glossary that offers information and further resources on people, places, and significant monastic vocabulary. Perfect for students and enthusiasts of the desert tradition.

The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism: Volume 9, Twentieth-Century Historical, Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives

The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism: Volume 9, Twentieth-Century Historical, Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives PDF Author: George Alexander Kennedy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521300148
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
This ninth volume in The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism presents a wide-ranging survey of developments in literary criticism and theory during the last century. Drawing on the combined expertise of a large team of specialist scholars, it offers an authoritative account of the various movements of thought that have made the late twentieth century such a richly productive period in the history of criticism. The aim has been to cover developments which have had greatest impact on the academic study of literature, along with background chapters that place those movements in a broader, intellectual, national and socio-cultural perspective. In comparison with Volumes Seven and Eight, also devoted to twentieth-century developments, there is marked emphasis on the rethinking of historical and philosophical approaches, which have emerged, especially during the past two decades, as among the most challenging areas of debate.

First in the Desert: St. Paul the Hermit in Text and Tradition

First in the Desert: St. Paul the Hermit in Text and Tradition PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004702229
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 761

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Book Description
This volume invites the reader to a journey into the mystery that is St. Paul the First Hermit. Presented in nine language traditions that span ten centuries of transmission, Paul’s vitae are a case study in cultural fusion and diversity. Assembled here for the first time, they provide the scaffolding for the volume that offers a window into the world of Eastern Christianity that consists of deeply interconnected, diverse communities. We learn about churches and monasteries and libraries; about books and relics; about art and iconography; and about the place of St. Paul in various liturgical traditions.

Collected Essays 2

Collected Essays 2 PDF Author: Patrick Olivelle
Publisher: Firenze University Press
ISBN: 8884537312
Category : Hinduism
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description


The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England

The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England PDF Author: Edward Alexander Jones
Publisher: DS Brewer
ISBN: 1843843404
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The series has from the beginning been instrumental in sustaining this field of study. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY Mystical writing flourished between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries across Europe and in England, and had a wide influence on religion and spirituality. This volume examines a range of topics within the field. The five "Middle English Mystics" (Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe) receive renewed attention, with significant new insights generated by fresh theoretical approaches. In addition, there are studies of the relationships between continental and English mystical authors, introductions to some less well-known writers in the tradition (such as the Monk of Farne), and explorations around the fringes of the mystical canon, including Middle English translations of Boethius, Lollard spirituality, and the Syon brother Richard Whytford's writings for a sixteenth-century "mixed life" audience. E. A. Jones is Senior Lecturer in English Medieval Literature and Culture at the University of Exeter. Contributors: Christine Cooper-Rompato, Vincent Gillespie, C. Annette Grisé, Ian Johnson, Sarah Macmillan, Liz Herbert McAvoy, Nicole R. Rice, Maggie Ross, Steven Rozenski Jr, David Russell, Michael G. Sargent, Christiana Whitehead.