Topic: Absence, Memory and Desire
| Time | Days | Location | Instructor | GER | Credit | OPUS Class Number | Syllabus (Tentative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9:35am-10:25am | MWF | New Psyc Bldg 36 Eagle Row 225 | Hernandez, Gloria. | 4 | 12743 | TBA. |
En el prólogo a su Cántico espiritual, San Juan de la Cruz le dice a su discípula, la monja Ana de Jesús, que "ciertamente nadie lo puede", refiriéndose al acto de explicar las experiencias místicas. ¿Por qué, entonces, los poetas místicos insisten en poner en escritura lo que no puede ser descrito, ¿Cómo usan la lengua de que disponen? ¿Cómo podemos aproximarnos a textos místicos que no están históricamente relacionados, pero que presentan fuertes resonancias poéticas?
Tales preguntas guiarán el estudio de una selección de la producción literaria de escritores sufíes, sefardíes y cristianos de la España medieval y temprano moderna de la península ibérica (S. X-XVII). Se prestará especial atención a cómo estos autores hablan de su experiencia de ausencia, de su memoria y de su deseo por el amado divino. Entre los temas de discusión figurarán la naturaleza del lenguaje místico, las particularidades históricas de la península ibérica y cómo estas influyen o no en la escritura mística, así como las posibilidades de comparación que estos textos sugieren.
Entre los autores a estudiar se incluirán Abufalia, Judah Halevi, Ibn Arabi, Ramon Lull, Moses de Leon, Santa Teresa de Jesús y San Juan de la Cruz.
In the prologue to his Spiritual Canticle, Saint John of the Cross tells his disciple, the nun Ana of Jesus, that "certainly no one can" explain the mystical experience. However, why do mystic poets indulge in the act of writing what cannot be described? How do they use the language that they have at their disposal? How may we approach comparatively mystical texts which are not historically linked, but suggest strong poetical resonances?
Such questions will guide the study of a selection of the literary production of Sufi, Sephardic and Christian mystics of Medieval and Early Modern Iberia (X-XVII AD). Special attention will be given to the ways in which these authors talk about their experience of absence, their memory and their desire for the divine lover. Topics of debate will include the nature of mystical language, the particularities of historicity in the Iberian Peninsula and how they impact or not mystical literature, and the comparative possibilities suggested by these texts.
Authors studied will include a comprehensive selection of mystical writers such as Abufalia, Judah Halevi, Ibn Arabi, Ramon Lull, Moses de Leon, Saint Therese of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross.
Discussions will be conducted mainly in Spanish. Texts will be available - whenever possible- in both Spanish and English. Students whose main area of study is not Spanish will have the option to complete their writing assignments in English.
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