The Phenomenology of Attention in Julian of Norwich's A Revelation of Love. (October 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: R, M
• Is Part Of: Exemplaria. Volume 26:Number 4(2014)
• Page Start: 347
• Page End: 367
• Publication Date: 2014-10
• Subjects: Julian of Norwich -- A Revelation of Love -- Augustine -- phenomenology -- attention -- time -- pain; European literature -- Renaissance, 1450-1600 -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Literature, Medieval -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Middle Ages -- Periodicals; 809.0205
• DOI: 10.1179/1041257314Z.00000000058
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1041-2573

Abstract

Abstract : Julian of Norwich's A Revelation of Love develops a sophisticated phenomenology of attention. Understanding the key role that attention plays in Julian's thought illuminates some of the most vexing questions that confront readers of her text, including her idiosyncratic adaptation of Augustine's categories of bodily and spiritual sight. A Revelation of Love describes how Julian's attention is turned and sustained, as well as distracted, by the phenomena that arise through the course of her revelations. In her reflections, she articulates both the anticipatory and retentive modalities of attention. She also acknowledges the limits of attention, particularly how pain can frustrate attempts to "pass over" the body. A Revelation of Love not only engages with contemporary philosophical and theological debates, but it can also help to historicize our understanding of both attention and phenomenology.