Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body Narratives
A great deal of scholarship on Old English soul-body poetry centers on whether or not the presence of dualist elements in the poems are unorthodox in their implication that the body, as a material object, is not only wicked but seems to possess more agency in the world than the soul. I argue that th...
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doaj-6be7328c909c47f8867d781c12f271b82020-11-25T03:52:12ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872020-08-01910010010.3390/h9030100Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body NarrativesKatayoun Torabi0Department of English, Texas A&M University, 400 Bizzell St, College Station, TX 77843, USAA great deal of scholarship on Old English soul-body poetry centers on whether or not the presence of dualist elements in the poems are unorthodox in their implication that the body, as a material object, is not only wicked but seems to possess more agency in the world than the soul. I argue that the Old English soul-body poetry is not heterodox or dualist, but is best understood, as Allen J. Frantzen suggests, within the “context of penitential practice.” The seemingly unorthodox elements are resolved when read against the backdrop of pre-Conquest English monastic reform culture, which was very much concerned with penance, asceticism, death, and judgment. Focusing especially on two anonymous 10th-century Old English poems, <i>Soul and Body I </i>in the <i>Vercelli Book </i>and <i>Soul and Body II </i>in the <i>Exeter Book</i>, I argue that that both body and soul bear equal responsibility in achieving salvation and that the work of salvation must be performed before death, a position that was reinforced in early English monastic literature that was inspired, at least in part, by Eastern ascetics such as fourth-century Syrian hymnologist and theologian, St. Ephraim.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/3/100poetryhymnsNear EastOld EnglishSyriactheology |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Katayoun Torabi |
spellingShingle |
Katayoun Torabi Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body Narratives Humanities poetry hymns Near East Old English Syriac theology |
author_facet |
Katayoun Torabi |
author_sort |
Katayoun Torabi |
title |
Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body Narratives |
title_short |
Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body Narratives |
title_full |
Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body Narratives |
title_fullStr |
Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body Narratives |
title_full_unstemmed |
Asceticism in Old English and Syriac Soul and Body Narratives |
title_sort |
asceticism in old english and syriac soul and body narratives |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Humanities |
issn |
2076-0787 |
publishDate |
2020-08-01 |
description |
A great deal of scholarship on Old English soul-body poetry centers on whether or not the presence of dualist elements in the poems are unorthodox in their implication that the body, as a material object, is not only wicked but seems to possess more agency in the world than the soul. I argue that the Old English soul-body poetry is not heterodox or dualist, but is best understood, as Allen J. Frantzen suggests, within the “context of penitential practice.” The seemingly unorthodox elements are resolved when read against the backdrop of pre-Conquest English monastic reform culture, which was very much concerned with penance, asceticism, death, and judgment. Focusing especially on two anonymous 10th-century Old English poems, <i>Soul and Body I </i>in the <i>Vercelli Book </i>and <i>Soul and Body II </i>in the <i>Exeter Book</i>, I argue that that both body and soul bear equal responsibility in achieving salvation and that the work of salvation must be performed before death, a position that was reinforced in early English monastic literature that was inspired, at least in part, by Eastern ascetics such as fourth-century Syrian hymnologist and theologian, St. Ephraim. |
topic |
poetry hymns Near East Old English Syriac theology |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/3/100 |
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AT katayountorabi asceticisminoldenglishandsyriacsoulandbodynarratives |
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