University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The assembled body: Anatomical enumeration and embodiment in Anglo-Saxon devotional texts

Williams, Kyle Joseph

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101265

Description

Title
The assembled body: Anatomical enumeration and embodiment in Anglo-Saxon devotional texts
Author(s)
Williams, Kyle Joseph
Issue Date
2018-03-30
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Trilling, Renée R.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Trilling, Renée R.
Committee Member(s)
  • Wright, Charles D.
  • Camargo, Martin M.
  • Hansen, Jim
Department of Study
English
Discipline
English
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Anglo-Saxon
  • Old English
  • Anglo-Latin
  • spirituality
  • devotion
  • lorica
  • charms
  • anatomical enumeration
  • body
  • New Materialism
  • Thing Theory
  • selfhood
  • identity
Abstract
"""The Assembled Body: Anatomical Enumeration and Embodiment in Anglo-Saxon Devotional Texts"" argues that Anglo-Saxon Christians viewed the material body as a potent site for spiritual transformation. This notion finds its fullest expression in the rhetorical scheme of anatomical enumeration which appears across a diverse collection of Old English and Anglo-Latin devotional forms that range from the seventh to eleventh century, such as anonymous personal protective charms and prayers, confessional formulae, monastic execrations, scientific writing and diagrams produced Byrhtferth, as well as a number of Ælfric of Eynsham's vernacular homilies. This project demonstrates how Anglo-Saxon authors employed such enumerative anatomical catalogs to highlight the vibrancy of the flesh at moments spiritual uncertainty. Casting the material body as an assemblage of agents, this rhetorical disarticulation of the flesh enables readers to envision the realignment and reintegration of their disordered and disobedient limbs into the unity of Christ's spiritual body."
Graduation Semester
2018-05
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101265
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2018 Kyle Joseph Williams

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