Sobre la autora y la obra
-
Teresa
de Avila
o
Spain,
1515-1582
o
Was a nun and later named a saint
o
Spanish mystic
o
Worked and wrote as part of Counter-Reformation (on
side of Catholics) – founded an order that was very intense and strict
o
Theology: mental prayer (revolutionary for the
time period)
-
Teresa is one of the foremost writers on mental
prayer, and her position among writers on mystical theology is unique. In all
her writings on this subject she deals with her personal experiences. She used
a metaphor of mystic prayer as watering a garden throughout her writings.
Comps ideas
-
Spanish mysticism (along with San Juan de la
Cruz)
-
Gender roles in the period (especially related
to religion; other example: La perfecta
casada by Fray Luis de León)
-
Importance
of religion in time period (Teresa, Fray Luis de León, San Juan de la Cruz,
later: Calderón de la Barca)
Themes/ideas
-
Spanish
mysticism
-
Mental prayer (metaphor of watering a garden)
-
Gender roles
o
Idea that women are inferior (slightly
tongue-in-cheek tone)
-
Religious roles; role of confessor, role of nun
-
Use of rhetoric (tongue-in-cheek tone at times,
says she’s writing because her confessor told her too, apologizes for any
errors because she is a woman, “lo indecible”, affected modesty…)
General notes from Chapters
11-21
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Says that she will make a comparison to explain
herself and excuses herself for any errors since she is just a woman (compares
prayer and relationship with God to different ways of watering a garden – uses
the metaphor of the garden as the soul throughout the text from this point
onward)
-
Talks about act of mental prayer and how to
become closer to God
o
Discusses various levels/degrees of prayer
(throughout different chapters)
-
Some criticism of religious men that don’t pray
well or complain about the way God’s will is enacted in their lives
-
Complete submission to God’s will
-
Refers frequently to her own dullness or
stupidity
-
Says she’s writing because her confessors have
asked her to; addresses her confessor directly occasionally during the text
-
Importance of a good spiritual leader that won’t
misguide you for lack of own spiritual understanding (end of chap. 13)
-
Turns away from subject frequently to praise God
and thank Him for having forgiven her so many evil deeds
-
Refers to herself as mad with love for God
-
Criticizes cautious preachers who worry more
about their audience than the actual word of God (chap. 16)
-
Emphasizes the great importance of prayer –
encourages others never to abandon it
-
Explains difference between union and rapture
(chap. 20)
Notes from class on Teresa de Avila (we read a different
section, various excerpts)
-
Teresa
tenía mucha influencia, en las otras monjas y también otra gente
-
Las místicas
o
Las
tres fases de la vía mística
§ Vía purgativa
§ Vía iluminativa
§ Vía unitiva – la unión con Dios
o
Las
visiones, la iluminación
-
Los
primeros capítulos del texto de Teresa
o
Tuvo
que explicar su tardanza en llegar a los caminos de Dios
o
La
idea que alguien puede aprender de sus experiencias
o
La
influencia que tuvo su confesor en que contara estos aspectos negativos de su
juventud
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La
vida de Teresa
o
Su
fascinación en las historias de caballería – según eran una influencia negativa
por el contenido que era muy alejado de la religiosidad
o
Su
deseo de morir e ir al cielo
o
Su
madre murió cuando era joven
o
La
mala influencia de su prima mundana
§ El interés en su apariencia, la vanidad
o
Su
tiempo en un monasterio como joven
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El texto de Teresa de Ávila parece como
una carta larga
o
Como
una conversación con Dios, forma similar a una oración
o
Falta
de organización y puntuación normal
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Al
final de capítulo 2, la implicación de alguna relación íntima (67)
o
La
ambigüedad de su comentario - ¿Qué quiere decir “intimidad”? El significado es
bastante abierto.
o
Dice
que los confesores le decían que no era pecado contra Dios – y entonces no
puede ser que ella haya tenido relaciones sexuales; a lo mejor tenía una
amistad un poco demasiado íntima.
-
Enunciado/enunciación
o
El
enunciado vs. la enunciación
§ Enunciado – lo que una persona está
contando
o
El
tiempo del enunciado vs. el tiempo de la enunciación
§ Tiempo del enunciado – tiempo en cual
pasaron los eventos de lo que uno está contando, el tiempo del enunciado mismo
§ Tiempo de la enunciación – tiempo que el
narrador está contando los eventos, que pasaron hace ratos… eso se puede
establecer en maneras de presentar información o también en términos de lugar
o
La
distancia entre el que narra (el narrador) y lo que narra (la narración)
o
Deixis
– los momentos en textos en cual se indica un lugar especifico
o
Los
deícticos (“shifters”) – deícticos espaciales/temporales/personales
§ Espacial – indica un cambio de lugar (acá,
allí, aquí, etc.)
§ Temporal – indica un cambio de tiempo
§ Personal – indica la presencia del
narrador (un “yo”) en la escritura
·
El
deseo de establecer contacto personal
o
Ejemplos
§ “Acuérdome que cuando murió…” (62) – una
frase que nos recuerda que es una narradora contando eventos que ya pasaron
hace ratos
§ “Fatígame ahora ver y pensar…” (62) – nos
recuerda que está reflejando en cosas que ya pasaron
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Lo indecible, lo inexpresable (en su visión)
o
“Estotro
me parece que a un principio de encarecerse cómo es, no puede haber, ni se
puede entender; mas sentí un fuego en el alma, que yo no puedo entender cómo
poder decir de la manera que es” (68)
o
Crea
un impacto en el lector
o
Una
apelación al pathos – provoca simpatía en el autor
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Los
sentimientos de Teresa sobre el convento en cual estaba
o
Las
quejas de Teresa – muchas comodidades, no seguía estrictamente la regla (72-73)
o
Dice
que estaba feliz allí – “estaba tan contentísima en aquella casa” (74)
Secondary Source: Alison Weber, Teresa
of Avila and the Rhetoric of Femininity – “Chapter II: The Book of her life and the Rhetoric of Humility”
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Danger of referring to Teresa’s Libro de la vida as an autobiography
since it is a work influenced heavily by her confessors (42-43)
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Teresa’s relationship with her confessors
(43-44)
o
They wanted her to describe her habit of mental
prayer and therefore defend the authenticity of her spiritual favors
o
Influence of Inquisition and fear of charge of
heresy; historical context of persecution against women
-
Magdalena de la Cruz (44-45)
o
Orthodox “fraud”
o
Inquisition’s focus on religious association
between women’s power and women’s fallen sexuality
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The “double bind” (45-46)
o
Not a difficult choice but rather the illusion
of a choice within a relationship
o
Teresa’s double bind – emotional, theological,
and legalistic ties; trapped by the link to her confessors (and source of
absolution) and her lack of education
-
Virtue of humility (47-48)
o
Importance of the virtue of humility, especially
for practitioners of mental prayer
o
Attempts to have no one else take notice of one
o
Stress on quiet and noiseless behavior
o
Problem of how to express humility while
maintaining it?
o
Humility is incompatible with self-defense – has
to figure out a way to express these things that she’s really not supposed to
say according to social standards of feminine behavior.
-
Affected modesty
o
Teresa’s frequent references to her own
wretchedness (48-49)
o
Desire to dispose the reader favorably toward
the writer (49)
o
Teresa blames her status as a woman for her
inability to express herself (50)
o
Radical changes between traditional use of
humility rhetoric and Teresa’s usage; her more frequent use – reflects her
precarious position (50)
o
“in her circumstances, the act of disavowing the
privilege to write was of necessity conterminous with the act of claiming the
privilege to write” (50)
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The Rhetoric of Concession
o
Teresa avoids clarifying the “core” confession
by surrounding it with vague lamentations and vague confessions of bad/negative
character traits (51)
o
Creates areas of individual authority (52)
o
Alternation of confession and self-exculpation
(54)
-
Alternative narratives
o
Alternative narratives – presents her situations
in different ways to shift perspective of how things occurred and who was at
fault (57)
§
Ambiguity in her statements
o
Manipulation of narratives to count her
retelling of situations in which sins could have occurred but didn’t as
confessions (58)
o
Her relationship with her father
§
Her covert criticism of her father (56)
§
Her conflicts with her father; he didn’t wish
for her to become a nun (57)
§
Struggle between love of God and love of her
father (57)
§
Theme of her father’s possessive love (62-63)
o
Her relationship with a priest (58)
§
Inversion of their hierarchical position
§
His inappropriate love/admiration for her
o
Her secular friendships and her fear of the
practice of prayer (59-
§
Her relationships with other nuns, who admired
her
§
Question of temptation
§
Her self-comparison with anonymous nuns who sin
intentionally
-
Captatio Benevolentiae
o
“attempt to get goodwill”
o
She continually reshapes the writer/reader
relationship to allow herself greater flexibility of expression (64)
o
She does not use speech forms of deference, but
rather writes more closely to terms indicative of persons with close
relationships (64-65)
o
Mixes strategy of formality and subordination
with one of intimacy and solidarity (66)
o
Dedicates her text to her current confessor,
García, as her principal addressee (66)
§
He became her confessional father but a
spiritual son, as she taught him the practice of mental prayer (68)
§
García de Toledo becomes an intermediary between
the writer and other potentially hostile readers (69)
o
Mix of negative and positive politeness
strategies (70)
o
Repeated complaint that she has been misread
(71)
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False humility
o
Idea that humility was responsible for her
abandonment of mental prayer (72)
o
Fear of vainglory as a strategy of the devil
(72)
o
Warning of practitioners of prayer to beware of
temptation of humility, which arises when one wishes to please earthly
authorities (72)
o
Some humility as form of cowardice (73)
o
Humility can be either a true or counterfeit
virtue (74)
o
True humility as the right to accept God’s love
(75)
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