Hagiography

Jon Boorstin proposes three purposes for film production – voyeuristic, vicarious, and visceral (Boorstin). Scrutinized in light of Boorstin’s proposal, hagiographical films are most likely to have three purposes imbedded in three generic types: investigation, verification, and veneration. In most cases, hagiographical films make biblical references, either textually or visually, in order to maximize each type’s purpose

The Life of Aleksandr Men\u27: Hagiography in the Making

Hagiography is not an extinct genre in Russian literature, even though many believe that it was important in the history of early Russian literature but became irrelevant as Russian literature entered its modem period. The autobiography of priest A vvakum, written in the second half of the seventeenth century, is often considered to be the final work in the development of Russian hagiography. Russian spirituality has not died out, however, and holy men and women continue to display the same devotion to Christ that was admired in medieval saints. The biographies and memoirs of these modem saints retain some of the hallmarks of traditional hagiography. In this paper I propose to show that the memoirs written about one of these contemporary Christian heroes, Aleksandr Men\u27, draw upon traditional hagiographic elements in order to portray him as a saint. Furthermore, the literature written about Men\u27 contains the seeds for a full-length saint\u27s Life, one that could possibly be included among the works of a modem neo-hagiographic genre

Omen and Anti-omen: The Rabbinic Hagiography of the Scapegoat’s Scarlet Ribbon

Abstract This article proposes that the place and meaning of various objects among religious communities can be explored in terms of “hagiography,” that is, through the narratives constructed around sacred objects sometimes long after their physical disappearance. It takes as its point of departure the assumption that in the same way that written accounts of saints’ lives disclose more about the authors of these accounts than about the protagonists, so narratives regarding “things” reveal the concerns and debates of their authors, and in particular their concerns about materiality and divine presence within physical objects. The article explores the rabbinic narratives concerning the scarlet ribbon tied to the scapegoat of the Day of Atonement, its function and its vicissitudes, as developed in the Mishnah and in the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds. Using both a synchronic and a diachronic lens, the article shows how the scarlet ribbon is utilized in the rabbis’ attempts to define their own times vis-à-vis earlier times, and to grapple with pressing religious uncertainties

He Was The Best of Kings; He Was the Worst of Kings: A Critique of the Literary Presentation of Richard I

In order to achieve a more holistic understanding of Mediterranean History during the Third Crusade, a critical analysis of Richard I is necessary. This paper questions how accurately Richard I was portrayed in literary sources during the Third Crusade and attempts to construct as complete an image of the various motivations that led to differing depictions of Richard I as possible through a critical analysis of literary sources. Focusing on how his actions during the Third Crusade were interpreted, this paper will show the various, often opposing, sentiments held by both Western and Muslim authors on Richard I. Once a comprehensive presentation of the literary representations of Richard I has been established, this paper will question motives behind authors’ characterizations of King Richard in order to create a greater understanding of the politics and cultural biases that were driving forces behind the actions of the Third Crusade and modern interpretation

Journal of African Christian Biography

A publication of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography with U.S. offices located at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at Boston University. This issue focuses on: WOMEN --- 1. Biographies of Kimpa Vita by Norbert Brockman, Mark R. Lipschutz and R. Kent Rasmussen, and Tsimba Mabiala. 2. "The Life and Visions of Krəstos Śämra, a Fifteenth-Century Ethiopian Woman Saint,"--chapter from African Christian Biography: Stories, Lives and Challenges (D. L. Robert, editor) by Wendy Laura Belcher 3. "Queen Njinga and Her Faiths: Religion and Politics in Seventeenth-Century Angola"--chapter from African Christian Biography: Stories, Lives and Challenges (D. L. Robert, editor) by Linda Heywood. 4. Book Notes, by B. Restric