Emplotting total devotion: secrecy, fame, and imitation in late antique Lives of Christian ascetics
This article concentrates on ideals of total devotion in Latin late antique Lives of secret saints. It argues that total devotion is narrativised according to a standardised plot structure or ‘masterplot’. The plot starts with the saints’ performance of total devotion in religious competition, which...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2023
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| In: |
Religion
Year: 2023, Volume: 53, Issue: 1, Pages: 135-160 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Saint's life
/ Plot (Literature)
/ Devotion
/ Immitation
/ Asceticism
/ Seclusion
/ Glory
/ History 400-500
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| RelBib Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality CD Christianity and Culture KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity KCA Monasticism; religious orders KCD Hagiography; saints |
| Further subjects: | B
rumours
B Latin hagiography B Total devotion B Imitation B ascetic withdrawal B narrative plot B religious competition B Secrecy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article concentrates on ideals of total devotion in Latin late antique Lives of secret saints. It argues that total devotion is narrativised according to a standardised plot structure or ‘masterplot’. The plot starts with the saints’ performance of total devotion in religious competition, which increases their fame and emotional attraction among the followers. Imitating the example of earlier ascetics, the saints withdraw in isolation to avoid the followers’ attention, but to no avail: the more they hide, the more they become known through the spreading of rumours. The saints’ subsequent disclosure intensifies their emotional attraction, and results in the people’s demonstration of total devotion. In a final step, the audience of the hagiographical tales is invited to follow the saints’ example. Laying bare the recurring plot elements, the article highlights the nexus of ascetic withdrawal, secrecy, fame, emotions, storytelling, and imitation in the constitution of total devotion. |
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| ISSN: | 1096-1151 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2022.2150407 |