Stealing obedience narratives of agency and identity in later Anglo-Saxon England /
Explores how a Christian notion of freedom incurring responsibility was a component of identity, examining secular writings, liturgy, canon and civil law, chronicle, dialogue, and hagiography to analyze the practice of obedience in the monastic context.
| Main Author: | O'Brien O'Keeffe, Katherine, 1948- |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English Old English Latin |
| Published: |
Toronto ; Buffalo :
University of Toronto Press,
[2012]
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| Physical Description: |
xiv, 300 pages, 1 unnumbered leaf of plates : 2 illustrations (1 color) ; 24 cm. |
| Series: |
Toronto Anglo-Saxon series ;
11. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
Explores how a Christian notion of freedom incurring responsibility was a component of identity, examining secular writings, liturgy, canon and civil law, chronicle, dialogue, and hagiography to analyze the practice of obedience in the monastic context. "Narratives of monastic life in Anglo-Saxon England depict individuals as responsible agents in the assumption and performance of religious identities. To modern eyes, however, many of the 'choices' they make would actually appear to be compulsory. Stealing Obedience explores how a Christian notion of agent action -- where freedom incurs responsibility -- was a component of identity in the last hundred years of Anglo-Saxon England, and investigates where agency (in the modern sense) might be sought in these narratives. Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe looks at Benedictine monasticism through the writings of Ælfric, Anselm, Osbern of Canterbury, and Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, as well as liturgy, canon and civil law, chronicle, dialogue, and hagiography, to analyse the practice of obedience in the monastic context. Stealing Obedience brings a highly original approach to the study of Anglo-Saxon narratives of obedience in the adoption of religious identity"--Publisher's description. |
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| Item Description: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [253]-279) and index. Introduction : on stealing obedience -- Dunstan in the theatre of choice -- 'Esto quod es' : Ælfric's Colloquy and the imperatives of monastic identity -- Edith's choice -- Leaving Wilton : Gunhild and the phantoms of agency -- The silence of Eve. Explores how a Christian notion of freedom incurring responsibility was a component of identity, examining secular writings, liturgy, canon and civil law, chronicle, dialogue, and hagiography to analyze the practice of obedience in the monastic context. "Narratives of monastic life in Anglo-Saxon England depict individuals as responsible agents in the assumption and performance of religious identities. To modern eyes, however, many of the 'choices' they make would actually appear to be compulsory. Stealing Obedience explores how a Christian notion of agent action -- where freedom incurs responsibility -- was a component of identity in the last hundred years of Anglo-Saxon England, and investigates where agency (in the modern sense) might be sought in these narratives. Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe looks at Benedictine monasticism through the writings of Ælfric, Anselm, Osbern of Canterbury, and Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, as well as liturgy, canon and civil law, chronicle, dialogue, and hagiography, to analyse the practice of obedience in the monastic context. Stealing Obedience brings a highly original approach to the study of Anglo-Saxon narratives of obedience in the adoption of religious identity"--Publisher's description. Includes some text in Latin and Old English. |
| Physical Description: |
xiv, 300 pages, 1 unnumbered leaf of plates : 2 illustrations (1 color) ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [253]-279) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780802097071 0802097073 |