Sacred Biography: Saints and Their Biographers in the Middle Ages

By: Thomas J. Heffernan

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Synopsis: Though medieval "saints' lives" are among the oldest literary texts of Western vernacular culture, they are routinely patronized as "pious fiction" by modern historiography. This book demonstrates that to characterize the genre as fiction is to misunderstand the intentions of medieval authors, who were neither credulous fools nor men blinded by piety. Concentrating on English texts, Heffernan reconstructs the medieval perspective and considers sacred biography in relation to the community for which it was written; identifies the genre's rhetorical practices and purposes; and demonstrates the syncretistic way in which the life of the medieval saint was transformed from oral tales to sacred text. In the process, Heffernan not only achieves a more contextually accurate understanding of the medieval saints' lives, but details a new critical method that has important implications for the practice of textual criticism.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9780195360011
Related ISBNs:: 9780195079074, 9780195052251, 9780195079074, 9780195052251
Publisher:: Oxford University Press
Date of Addition:: 10/08/22
Copyrighted By:: N/A
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Art and Architecture, Biographies and Memoirs, Religion and Spirituality, Language Arts
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.