How, Barbara Newman asks, did the myth of the separable heart
take such a firm hold in the Middle Ages, from lovers exchanging
hearts with one another to mystics exchanging hearts with Jesus?
What ...special traits gave both saints and demoniacs their ability to
read minds? Why were mothers who died in childbirth buried in
unconsecrated ground? Each of these phenomena, as diverse as they
are, offers evidence for a distinctive medieval idea of the person
in sharp contrast to that of the modern "subject" of
"individual."
Starting from the premise that the medieval self was more
permeable than its modern counterpart, Newman explores the ways in
which the self's porous boundaries admitted openness to penetration
by divine and demonic spirits and even by other human beings. She
takes up the idea of "coinherence," a state familiarly expressed in
the amorous and devotional formula "I in you and you in me," to
consider the theory and practice of exchanging the self with others
in five relational contexts of increasing intimacy. Moving from the
outside in, her chapters deal with charismatic teachers and their
students, mind-reading saints and their penitents, lovers trading
hearts, pregnant mothers who metaphorically and literally carry
their children within, and women and men in the throes of demonic
obsession. In a provocative conclusion, she sketches some of the
far-reaching consequences of this type of personhood by drawing on
comparative work in cultural history, literary criticism,
anthropology, psychology, and ethics.
The Permeable Self offers medievalists new insight into
the appeal and dangers of the erotics of pedagogy; the remarkable
influence of courtly romance conventions on hagiography and
mysticism; and the unexpected ways that pregnancy-often devalued in
mothers-could be positively ascribed to men, virgins, and God. The
half-forgotten but vital idea of coinherence is of relevance far
beyond medieval studies, however, as Newman shows how it
reverberates in such puzzling phenomena as telepathy, the
experience of heart transplant recipients who develop relationships
with their deceased donors, the phenomenon of psychoanalytic
transference, even the continuities between ideas of demonic
possession and contemporary understandings of obsessive-compulsive
disorder.
In The Permeable Self Barbara Newman once again
confirms her status as one of our most brilliant and
thought-provoking interpreters of the Middle Ages.
How, Barbara Newman asks, did the myth of the separable heart take such a firm hold in the Middle Ages, from lovers exchanging hearts with one another to mystics exchanging hearts with Jesus? What ...special traits gave both saints and demoniacs their ability to read minds? Why were mothers who died in childbirth buried in unconsecrated ground? Each of these phenomena, as diverse as they are, offers evidence for a distinctive medieval idea of the person in sharp contrast to that of the modern "subject" of "individual."Starting from the premise that the medieval self was more permeable than its modern counterpart, Newman explores the ways in which the self's porous boundaries admitted openness to penetration by divine and demonic spirits and even by other human beings. She takes up the idea of "coinherence, " a state familiarly expressed in the amorous and devotional formula "I in you and you in me, " to consider the theory and practice of exchanging the self with others in five relational contexts of increasing intimacy. Moving from the outside in, her chapters deal with charismatic teachers and their students, mind-reading saints and their penitents, lovers trading hearts, pregnant mothers who metaphorically and literally carry their children within, and women and men in the throes of demonic obsession. In a provocative conclusion, she sketches some of the far- reaching consequences of this type of personhood by drawing on comparative work in cultural history, literary criticism, anthropology, psychology, and ethics. The Permeable Self offers medievalists new insight into the appeal and dangers of the erotics of pedagogy; the remarkable influence of courtly romance conventions on hagiography and mysticism; and the unexpected ways that pregnancy—often devalued in mothers—could be positively ascribed to men, virgins, and God. The half-forgotten but vital idea of coinherence is of relevance far beyond medieval studies, however, as Newman shows how it reverberates in such puzzling phenomena as telepathy, the experience of heart transplant recipients who develop relationships with their deceased donors, the phenomenon of psychoanalytic transference, even the continuities between ideas of demonic possession and contemporary understandings of obsessive- compulsive disorder.In The Permeable Self Barbara Newman once again confirms her status as one of our most brilliant and thought-provoking interpreters of the Middle Ages.
In Medieval Crossover: Reading the Secular against the Sacred, Barbara Newman offers a new approach to the many ways that sacred and secular interact in medieval literature, arguing that the sacred ...was the normative, unmarked default category against which the secular always had to define itself and establish its niche. Newman refers to this dialectical relationship as "crossover"-which is not a genre in itself, but a mode of interaction, an openness to the meeting or even merger of sacred and secular in a wide variety of forms. Newman sketches a few of the principles that shape their interaction: the hermeneutics of "both/and," the principle of double judgment, the confluence of pagan material and Christian meaning in Arthurian romance, the rule of convergent idealism in hagiographic romance, and the double-edged sword in parody.Medieval Crossover explores a wealth of case studies in French, English, and Latin texts that concentrate on instances of paradox, collision, and convergence. Newman convincingly and with great clarity demonstrates the widespread applicability of the crossover concept as an analytical tool, examining some very disparate works.
This article reports findings from a constructionist grounded theory study with 51 first-year college students. We explored student definitions and development of a sense of belonging during their ...first year of college. Belonging for all participants was shaped by 3 themes: environmental perceptions, involvement, and relationships. Yet, there were vast differences in the ways students from privileged and minoritized social identity groups defined belonging and made meaning of the 3 emergent themes. A model of belonging for privileged and minoritized college students is presented.
Nine hundred years ago in Paris, a teacher and his brilliant female student fell in love and chronicled their affair in a passionate correspondence. Their 116 surviving letters, some whole and some ...fragmentary, are composed in eloquent, highly rhetorical Latin. Since their discovery in the late twentieth century, theLetters of Two Lovershave aroused much attention because of their extreme rarity. They constitute the longest correspondence by far between any two persons from the entire Middle Ages, and they are private rather than institutional-which means that, according to all we know about the transmission of medieval letters, they should not have survived at all. Adding to their mystery, the letters are copied anonymously in a single late fifteenth-century manuscript, although their style and range of reference place them squarely in the early twelfth century.
Can this collection of correspondence be the previously lost love letters of Abelard and Heloise? And even if not, what does it tell us about the lived experience of love in the twelfth century?
Barbara Newman contends that these teacher-student exchanges bear witness to a culture that linked Latin pedagogy with the practice of ennobling love and the cult of friendship during a relatively brief period when women played an active part in that world. Newman presents a new translation of these extraordinary letters, along with a full commentary and two extended essays that parse their literary and intellectual contexts and chart the course of the doomed affair. Included, too, are two other sets of twelfth-century love epistles, the Tegernsee Letters and selections from the Regensburg Songs. Taken together, they constitute a stunning contribution to the study of the history of emotions by one of our most prominent medievalists.
Contrary to popular belief, the medieval religious imagination did not restrict itself to masculine images of God but envisaged the divine in multiple forms. In fact, the God of medieval Christendom ...was the Father of only one Son but many daughters-including Lady Philosophy, Lady Love, Dame Nature, and Eternal Wisdom.God and the Goddessesis a study in medieval imaginative theology, examining the numerous daughters of God who appear in allegorical poems, theological fictions, and the visions of holy women. We have tended to understand these deities as mere personifications and poetic figures, but that, Barbara Newman contends, is a mistake. These goddesses are neither pagan survivals nor versions of the Great Goddess constructed in archetypal psychology, but distinctive creations of the Christian imagination. As emanations of the Divine, mediators between God and the cosmos, embodied universals, and ravishing objects of identification and desire, medieval goddesses transformed and deepened Christendom's concept of God, introducing religious possibilities beyond the ambit of scholastic theology and bringing them to vibrant imaginative life.
Building a bridge between secular and religious conceptions of allegorized female power, Newman advances such questions as whether medieval writers believed in their goddesses and, if so, in what manner. She investigates whether the personifications encountered in poetic fictions can be distinguished from those that appear in religious visions and questions how medieval writers reconcile their statements about the multiple daughters of God with orthodox devotion to the Son of God. Furthermore, she examines why forms of feminine God-talk that strike many Christians today as subversive or heretical did not threaten medieval churchmen.
Weaving together such disparate texts as the writings of Latin and vernacular poets, medieval schoolmen, liturgists, and male and female mystics and visionaries,God and the Goddessesis a direct challenge to modern theologians to reconsider the role of goddesses in the Christian tradition.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) would have been an extraordinary
person in any age. But for a woman of the twelfth century her
achievements were so exceptional that posterity has found it hard
to ...take her measure. Barbara Newman, a premier Hildegard authority,
brings major scholars together to present an accurate portrait of
the Benedictine nun and her many contributions to twelfth-century
religious, cultural, and intellectual life. Written by specialists
in fields ranging from medieval theology to medicine to music,
these essays offer an understanding of how one woman could
transform so many of the traditions of the world in which she
lived. Hildegard of Bingen was the only woman of her age accepted
as an authoritative voice on Christian doctrine as well as the
first woman permitted by the pope to write theological books. She
was the author of the first known morality play; an artist of
unusual talents; the most prolific chant composer of her era; and
the first woman to write extensively on natural science and
medicine, including sexuality as seen from a female perspective.
She was the only woman of her time to preach openly to mixed
audiences of clergy and laity, and the first saint whose biography
includes a first-person memoir. Adding to the significance of this
volume is the fact that Hildegard's oeuvre reflects the entire
sweep of twelfth-century culture and society. Scholars and lay
readers alike will find this collection a rich introduction to a
remarkable figure and to her tumultuous world. With the
commemoration of the 900th anniversary of Hildegard's birth in
September 1998, the publication of Voice of the Living
Light is especially welcome.
Higher education research suggests that the development of a sense of belonging is key to academic success and persistence, yet we know little about how first-year students with disabilities develop ...a sense of belonging as they transition into and through their first year in postsecondary environments. Themes from a grounded theory study of 8 college students, most of whom had invisible disabilities, provided the foundation for an emerging model of belonging. Student narratives suggest there are interconnections between the development of a sense of belonging, self-advocacy, social relationships, and mastery of the student role for first-year students with disabilities.
Using grounded theory methods, the authors examined how LGBPQ students developed a sense of belonging during the first year of college. Sense of belonging transformed and deepened over the year and ...was fostered in three different contexts: university, group, and friendship. It was influenced by sexual identity and outness, university messaging, and meaningful social interactions with groups and authentic friends. The authors offer four theoretical propositions that can be utilized by researchers and practitioners.
Objective: The purpose of this paper is to detail the development and implementation of a patient focused pre-admission process, part of which is the check list identified within this paper and ...comprising the main point of the paper because it is based on patient and publication evidence for women with breast cancer. Women with breast cancer together with health professionals had specific input into the designed pre-admission clinic at a tertiary care hospital. A pre admission clinic had been established some time ago however, women who attended this clinic deemed it most unsatisfactory for their needs. Results from an evaluation provided information that indicated women with breast cancer required an improved pre admission process that was aligned to their needs and those of the Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Team (BCMT).
Setting: A large tertiary care hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Subjects: Fifty (50) women of mixed cultures. Men can be diagnosed with breast cancer however, throughout this project, women were the only patients presenting for surgery.
Primary Argument: Even though remarkable progress has been made in breast cancer survival through medical treatment, women, newly diagnosed with breast cancer are frequently concerned, stressed and anxious as they attempt to come to terms with the news on their cancer diagnosis. Beside the initial medical consultation that informs them on their diagnosis, the women's first major interaction with the healthcare system commences when they attend the pre-admission clinic as a pre admitted person. Therefore it is appropriate to examine current nursing practices during the pre admission phase of a Tertiary Hospital so women, newly diagnosed with breast cancer are able to receive appropriate and supportive care. The goal of health professionals is to respect each patient and give voice to them by developing a specifically designed pre-admission process. It is expected any pre-admission process will utilise available evidence and include consultation with the Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Team (BCMT). Thus the project commenced by identifying the needs of women with breast cancer in consultation with the BCMT, including nurses, physiotherapists, doctors and social workers. This evidence based approach to best practice in the pre-admission process and clinic has not been attempted previously for this cohort of patients.
Conclusion: Improving the pre admission process of patients encourages analysis of the evidence that is appropriate for this cohort and nursing practices. In addition, it offered time to ensure applicability of the pre admission process and clinic to the lives of the women concerned. During this project opportunities arose for reflection on the journey women follow after their diagnosis and the involvement of the BCMT. Moreover, this process encouraged examination of the most appropriate allocation and use of resources within the context of the pre admission process and clinic, surgery, and discharge through to home follow up. This paper maps some of the adopted process, the collected data and briefly summarises resources utilised in relation to the pre-admission process.
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