Creating the 'hermit-preachers' : narrative, textual construction, and community in twelfth- and thirteenth-century northern France
This thesis offers a reassessment of those men whom we know of as the 'hermit-preachers' of north-western France through critical engagement with the narratives written about them. As such, it focuses upon their textual construction, rather than the men themselves, arguing that we must understand the texts for their intentions and as a whole instead of trying to mine them for historical 'truths' or 'reliable' information ïżœ a dramatic contrast to previous scholarship. Focused upon these narratives, linked with ideas of both story-telling and liturgy, I explore the progression of their (community) construction, from the mechanics of the actual texts' production to certain visions of these men on parchment. By seeking to understand construction in text I thus examine how these men were represented, envisaged, and hence explore, through different notions integral to the sources, their linguistic and conceptual imagining in text. Through this analysis, I challenge many current paradigms and notions that underline scholarship, such as the vita apostolica and the notion of institutionalised founders. What emerges is a vision of these men quite different from that currently espoused in historiography, one with more
Parker, Robyn
Creating the 'hermit-preachers' : narrative, textual construction, and community in twelfth- and thirteenth-century northern France. This thesis offers a reassessment of those men whom we know of as the 'hermit-preachers' of north-western France through critical engagement with the narratives written about them. As such, it focuses upon their textual construction, rather than the men themselves, arguing that we must understand the texts for their intentions and as a whole instead of trying to mine them for historical 'truths' or 'reliable' information ïżœ a dramatic contrast to previous scholarship. Focused upon these narratives, linked with ideas of both story-telling and liturgy, I explore the progression of their (community) construction, from the mechanics of the actual texts' production to certain visions of these men on parchment. By seeking to understand construction in text I thus examine how these men were represented, envisaged, and hence explore, through different notions integral to the sources, their linguistic and conceptual imagining in text. Through this analysis, I challenge many current paradigms and notions that underline scholarship, such as the vita apostolica and the notion of institutionalised founders. What emerges is a vision of these men quite different from that currently espoused in historiography, one with more
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