RELG 400A Spring 2002
Fr.
A. Thompson, O.P. M 3:30-5:50; Halsey
123
MAJORS' SEMINAR:
SAINTS' LIVES
Instructor's Office Hours: Mon. and Tues.
10-12 or by appointment
Phone: Office, 924-6729; home, 244-8755
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The focus of
this seminar is methodological, the material considered is the genre of ancient
and medieval Christian saints' lives.
We will examine the theory and application of the following methods:
historical, psychological, sociological, gender analytical, folklorist, and
anthropological to this literature. We
will alternate week to week between the study of theory and examination of its
application. As part of the
application, students will also apply the methods considered to a particular
saints' life. Requirements: weekly
class presentations and discussion, one 15-page and one 4-page paper, no
exams. No previous study of
Christianity required; open only to third- and fourth-year Religious Studies
majors.
Required Reading
Medieval
Saints: A Reader, ed. Mary-Ann Stouck (Peterborough ON: Broadview Press,
1999)
Course Packet: containing
readings on theory and application.
Available at "The Copy Center" under Heartwood Books, 53
Elliewood Ave., at the Corner.
Other Requirements of Course:
1. Active
participation in discussion of all the readings of the week. You will read all readings before
class. Any student may be called on to
introduce the saint's life in the "application" session.
2. A report and a response (sign up for
both in week 1):
1.
A 3-4 page report of on an assigned reading (written, read, handed in)
2. An oral
response to one report presented by another student
3. A Term Paper
A 10-15 page
analysis of a any saint's life (or even more than one life) not analyzed in
class. You will use a method of your
choice. The life may, but need not, be
one in Medieval Saints, and it need NOT a Christian life--you may find
and use hagiographic lives of holy persons from any religion. Due at class during the 14th Week of
semester.
RELG 400A Spring 2002
Fr. A.
Thompson, O.P. M 3:30-5:50; Halsey 123
SAINTS' LIVES:
SYLLABUS
DATES OF DISCUSSIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS DUE
IN BOLD
I. HISTORICAL
APPROACHES
A. Introduction
(1/21)
1. The
instructor will talk about the genre of hagiography and the methodological
problems it represents for the study of religion, particularly in history.
2. It
would be useful to read the Delehay reading (assigned for next week‑-"I.B.1"
below) before coming to class.
B. Theory
and Application (1/28)
1. Hippolyte
Delehay, "The Production of Legend," and "The Work of
Hagiographers," in The Legends of the Saints (New York: Fordham
Univ. Press, 1962) pp. 12-39, 49-78.
2. Charles
W. Jones,, "Was there a historical Nicolas?" in St. Nicolas of
Myra, Bari, and Manhattan (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1978), pp.
7-43.
3. Saint's
Life: St. Athanasius, "The Life of St. Anthony the Hermit," Medieval
Saints, pp. 57-82.
II. PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES
A. Theory
(2/4)
1. William
James, "Religion and Neurology," "Circumscription of the
Topic," and "Mysticism," in Varieties of Religious Experience
(New York: Random House, 1929), pp. 1-52, 379-429.
2. Sigmund
Freud, Future of an Illusion, trans. W. Robson-Scott (London: Hogarth,
1928).
B. Application
(2/11)
1. Rudolph
Bell, "I, Catherine" in Holy Anorexia (Chicago: Univ. of
Chicago, 1985), pp. 22-53; and (optional) Caroline Bynum, "Was Women's
Fasting Anorexia?" in Holy Feast and Holy Fast (Berkeley: Univ. of
Calif. Press, 1987), pp. 194-207.
2. Saint's
Life: Thomas of Cantimpré, "The Life of St. Christina of St.-Trond," Medieval
Saints, pp. 436-52.
III. SOCIOLOGICAL
APPROACHES
A. Theory
(2/18)
1. Emile
Durkheim, "Subject of Study," and "Definition of Religious
Phenomena," in Elementary Forms of Religious Life, trans. Karen
Fields (New York: Free Press, 1995), pp. 1-39.
2. John
Bossy, "Some Elementary Forms of Durkheim," Past and Present,
95 (1982), 3-18.
B. Application
(2/25)
1. Donald
Weinstein & Rudolph Bell, "Who was a Saint?" and "Appendix
on Method," in Saints and Society (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press,
1982), pp. 141-64, 277-90
2. Saint's
Life: Turgot of St. Andrews, "Life of St. Margaret of Scotland," Medieval
Saints, pp. 273-94.
IV. ANTHROPOLOGICAL
APPROACHES
A. Theory
(3/4)
1. Mary
Douglas, "Away from Ritual," "To Inner Experience," and
"The Bog Irish," in Natural Symbols (New York: Pantheon,
1982), pp. 1-53.
2. Clifford
Geertz, "Religion as a Cultural System," in The Interpretation of
Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), pp. 87-125.
B. Application
(3/18)
1. Peter
Brown, "Preface," "The Holy and the Grave," and "A
Fine and Special Place," in The Cult of the Saints (Chicago: Univ.
of Chicago, 1981), pp. xiii-49.
2. Saint's
Life: "Passion of Ss. Perpetua and Felicitas," Medieval Saints,
pp. 21-32.
V. RITUAL
THEORY APPROACHES
A. Theory
(3/25)
1. Victor
Turner, "Liminality and Communitas" in The Ritual Process
(Ithaca NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1972). pp. 94-131.
2. Victor
Turner, "Pilgrimages as Social Processes" in Dramas, Fields, and
Metaphors (Ithaca NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1974), pp. 166-230.
B. Application
(4/1)
1. Patrick
J. Geary, "The Saint and the Shrine," and "The Relic
Trade," in Living with the Dead in the Middle Ages (Ithaca NY:
Cornell Univ. Press, 1994), pp. 163-93.
2. Saint's
Life: "The Pilgrim's Guide to St. James of Compostella," Medieval
Saints, pp. 313-27.
VI. GENDER
THEORY APPROACHES
A. Theory
(4/8)
1. Joan
Kelly, "The Social Relation of the Sexes," and "The Doubled
Vision of Feminist Theory," in Women, History, and Theory (Chicago:
Univ. of Chicago Press, 1986), pp. 1-18, 51-64.
2. Caroline
Bynum, "The Complexity of Symbols," in Gender and Religion
(Boston: Beacon, 1986), pp. 1-20.
B. Application
(4/15)
1. Karen
Scott, "Mystical Death" in Gendered Voices, ed. Catherine M.
Mooney (Philadelphia: Univ. of Penn. Press, 1999), pp. 136-67.
2. Saint's
Life: "The Life of St. Mary of Egypt," Medieval Saints, pp.
97-114.
VII. FOLKLORIST
APPROACHES
A. Theory
(4/22)
1. C.
Grant Loomis, "Introduction," and "The Wonder Child," in White
Magic (Cambridge MA: Medieval Academy of America, 1948), pp. 3-26.
2. James
E. Doan, "A Structural Approach to Celtic Saints' Lives," in Celtic
Folklore and Christianity, ed. Patrick Ford (Santa Barbara: McNally and
Loftin, 1983), pp. 16-28.
TERM PAPERS ARE
DUE TODAY
B. Application
(4/29)
1. Jean-Claude
Schmitt, "Introduction," and "The Legend," in The Holy
Greyhound (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1979), pp. 1-8, 39-67.
2. Saint's
Life: The Libar Breac "Life of St. Christopher," Medieval
Saints, pp. 561-67.
Absence on Report Days: A no-show (even
if you warn me) for either presentation or response can mean a penalty of
two letter grades for the course. To avoid the full penalty, swap presentations
with another student or have someone else read and hand in your report or
(written) response. YOU HAVE NOW BEEN
WARNED.
