Texts of the Passion: Latin Devotional Literature and Medieval Society

Thomas H. Bestul

University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, Dec 11, 1996 - Literary Criticism - 272 pages

In this book Thomas H. Bestul constructs the literary history of the Latin Passion narratives, placing them within their social, cultural, and historical contexts. He examines the ways in which the Passion is narrated and renarrated in devotional treatises, paying particular attention to the modifications and enlargements of the narrative of the Passion as it is presented in the canonical gospels.

Of particular interest to Bestul are the representations of Jews, women, and the body of the crucified Christ. Bestul argues that the greatly enlarged role of the Jews in the Passion narratives of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is connected to the rising anti-Judaism of the period. He explores how the representations of women, particularly the Virgin Mary, express cultural values about the place of women in late medieval society and reveal an increased interest in female subjectivity.

Contents

• Medieval Narratives of the Passion of Christ: 26
• The Representation of the Jews in Medieval: 69
• Gender and the Representation of Women: 111

About the author

Thomas H. Bestul is Professor of English at the University of Illlinois, Chicago.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Texts of the Passion: Latin Devotional Literature and Medieval Society; The Middle Ages Series
• Author: Thomas H. Bestul
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, 1996
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: Apr 29, 2008
• ISBN: 081223376X, 9780812233766
• Length: 272 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Medieval; Religion / Christianity / History