After Augustine: The Meditative Reader and the Text

141 Pages·2001·11.598 MB·English

by  Brian Stock

Mter Augustine
MATERIAL TEXTS
SERIES EDITORS
RogerChartier AnthonyGrafton
JoanDejean Janice Radway
Joseph Farrell PeterStallybrass
Acomplete listofbooks in the series isavailablefrom the
publisher.
After Augustine
The Meditative Reader and the Text
Brian Stock
PENN
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia
Copyright©2001UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Publishedby
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia,Pennsylvania19104-4011
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Stock,Brian.
MterAugustine:themeditativereaderandthetext/ BrianStock.
p. em. - (Materialtexts)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8122-3602-5(cloth:alk.paper)
1.Augustine,Saint,BishopofHippo.Confessiones. 2.Augustine,
Saint,BishopofHippo-Booksandreading. 3.Augustine,Saint,
BishopofHippo-Influence. 4.Self-knowledge,Theoryof-History.
5.Booksandreading-History. I.Title. II.Series.
BR65.A62S745 2001
418'.4'01-dc21 00-068269
for
Goulven Madec
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Contents
Introduction 1
1. ReadingandSelf-Knowledge 8
2. EthicalValues and the LiteraryImagination 24
3. LaterAncientLiteraryRealism 38
4. The ProblemofSelf-Representation 52
5. Petrarch'sPortraitofAugustine 71
6. TwoVersionsofUtopia 86
7. LectioSpiritualis 101
Notes 115
Index 129
Acknowledgments 131
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Introduction
During late antiquityand the Middle Ages, the spiritual exercises
thatwereassociatedwithself-improvementwerenormallybasedon
extensiveperiodsofreadingandmeditation.Asaconsequence,the
reshapingofethicalvalues in these exercisesbecame a partofthe
sUbject'sinnerexperience.Thepresentvolumeisanexplorationof
this theme.
ThefigurewhoappearsmostfrequentlyinthesepagesisAugus
tine ofHippo.This isunderstandable, since he is the mostprolific
andinfluentialwriteronreadingbetweenantiquityandtheRenais
sance. ItiscleartoallwhohavestudiedAugustine thathiswritings
on the topic have important implications. But he refused to spell
these out in detail, perhaps deliberately, and as a result his state
mentswere occasionallyquotedbyopposingsidesinmedieval de
batesinvolvingprinciplesofinterpretation, astheywerebyBeren
gar and Lanfranc during the eucharistic controversy. It can be
arguedthatmedievalandRenaissancethinkersweresometimestoo
systematicintheirpresentationofAugustine'sviewsonreadingand
interpretation.HedidnotwriteatreatiseonthetopicliketheDidas
caliconofhistwelfth-centuryadmirerHughofSt.Victor. Hisreluc
tance to synthesize his views on other important themes, such as
the sacraments, suggests that he would have been skeptical about
anyattempttobringtogetherhisstatementsonreadingasaformal
theory.Yet, despite the unsystematic nature ofhiswritings on the
subject,heremainedthepointofreferencetowhichlaterwritersin
variablyreturnedintheirsearchfortherootsofproblemsconcern
ingreadingandinterpretation.Theywerefascinatedbyhisstoryof
howhe hadsiftedthrough the doctrinesofancientschoolsofphi-