The Female Authorship:
The Cloud of Unknowing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/Raphisa.2021.v5i1.11827Keywords:
Mística, Autoría femenina, La nube del no saber, Margarita Porete, Juliana de Norwich, Estudios de Mujeres.Abstract
This paper raises the possibility of a female authorship for the anonymous 14th century work The Cloud of Unknowing, which academics always attribute to a man. It points out four premises: firstly the error of sexual attribution of the authorship of The Mirror of Simple Souls, maintained until 20th century; secondly, the conception of woman by the English mystical male writers Rolle and Hilton, which is not found in the writings attributed to the author of The Cloud; thirdly, the literary, theological and mystical greatness of a English woman writer of 14th century, Julian of Norwich; and, finally, the scholars' considerations about the author (man for them) of The Cloud and its related treatises, which, notwithstanding, could perfectly be attributed to a woman of the fourteenth century in England. So, the conclusion invites to question the male authorship of this masterpiece, perhaps, for the first time.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Metrics
Metrics Loading ...
References
ARMSTRONG, KAREN (ed. and trans.) (1991): The English Mystics of the Fourteenth Century. London: Kyle Cathie.
BRATHWAITE, RICHARD (1641): The English gentleman; and The English gentlewoman. London: Printed by Iohn Dawson. Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library [https://archive.org/details/englishgentleman00brat].
CHARTRAND-BURKE, TONY (1997): "Against the Proud Scholars of the Devil: Anti-Intellectual Rhetoric in The Cloud of Unknowing", Mystics Quarterly (University of Cincinnati), Vol. 23; No. 3, pp. 115-136.
COLLEDGE, E. and WALSH, J. (eds.) (1978): A Book of Showings to the Anchoress Julian of Norwich. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies.
ELWIN, VERRIER (1930): Christian Dhya?na; or, Prayer of Loving Regard: A Study of “The Cloud of Unknowing". London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
ENGLERT, ROBERT WILLIAM (1983): Scattering and Oneing: a Study of Conflict in the Works of the Author of the "Cloud of Unknowing". Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg.
FIELD, SEAN L. (2012): The Beguine, the Angel, and the Inquisitor: The Trials of Marguerite Porete and Guiard of Cressonessart. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
GENETTE, GÉRARD (1997): Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Trans. Jane E. Lewin; fwd. Richard Mackesey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
HILDITCH, JANET (1987): "The Cloud of Unknowing": Its Inheritance and its Inheritors. University of Saint Andrews, Thesis (Ph.D.)?
HILTON, WALTER (1995): The Scale (or Ladder) of Perfection. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library [Classic Christian Ethereal Literature at Calvin College in Michigan: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/h/hilton/ladder/cache/ladder.pdf].
HILTON, WALTER (1995): Treatise Written to a Devout Man. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/h/hilton/treatise/cache/treatise.pdf].
HODGSON, PHILLIS (ed.) (1944): The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counselling. London: Oxford University Press.
JOHN-JULIAN, Father. O.J.N. (ed. and. trans.) (2009): The Complete Julian of Norwich. Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press.
JUAN DE LA CRUZ, SAN (1992): Poesía. Ed. Domingo Ynduráin. Madrid. Cátedra.
KEMPE, MARGERY (2004): The Book of Margery Kempe. Trans. and introd. B. A. Windeat. London: Penguin Books.
KIRCHBERGER, CLARE (ed.) (1927): The mirror of simple souls /?by an unknown French mystic of the thirteenth century. Translated into English by M. N. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1927.
LLEWELYN, ROBERT (ed. and trans.) (1983): The Dart of Longing Love: Daily Readings from "The Cloud of Unknowing" and "The Epistle of Privy Counsel". London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
LLEWELYN, ROBERT (1989): With Pity not with Blame: the Spirituality of Julian of Norwich and The Cloud of Unknowing for Today. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
NIEVA, CONSTANTINO SARMIENTO (1971): This Transcending God: The Teaching of the Author of "The Cloud of Unknowing". London: Press, 1971.
POKORN, N. K. (1999): "The Author of The Cloud of Unknowing. Medieval Anonymity and Barthes Death of the Author", English Studies: A Journal of English Letters and Philology, Vol. 80, No. 6, pp. 490-498.
PORETE, MARGUERITE / PORETE MARGARETAE (1986): Le mirouer des simples âmes / Speculum simplicium animarum. Ed. Romana Guarnieri / Paul Verdeyen. Turnholti: Brepols.
PORETE, MARGUERITE (2011): Le miroir des âmes simples et anéanties et qui seulement demeurent en vouloir et désir d'Amour. Trans. and introd. Max Huot de Longchamp. Paris: Albin Michel.
POWER, EILEEN (1995): Medieval Women. Ed. M. M. Postan. London: The Folio Society
PROGOFF, IRA (ed. and trans.) (1959): The Cloud of Unknowing. London: Rider.
RIEHLE, WOLFGANG (2014): The Secret Within: Hermits, Recluses, and Spiritual Outsiders in Medieval England. Trans. Charity Scott-Stokes. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
ROLLE, RICHARD (1972): The Fire of Love. Ed. and trans. Clifton Wolters. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
SPEARING, A. C. (ed. and trans.) (2001): The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works. London: Penguin Books.
SUMMIT, JENNIFER (2000): Lost Property: The Woman Writer and English Literary History, 1380-1589. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
TERESA DE JESÚS, SANTA (1993): Libro de la vida. Ed. Dámaso Chicharro. Madrid: Cátedra.
UNDERHILL, EVELYN (ed. and trans.) (1922): A Book of Contemplation the Which is Called The Cloud of Unknowing, in the Which a Soul is Oned with God. London: John M. Watkins. Format PDF from Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library [Classic Christian Ethereal Litterature at Calvin College in Michigan: https://ccel.org/ccel/a/anonymous2/cloud/cache/cloud.pdf]
WOLTERS, C. (ed. and trans.) (1971): The Cloud of Unknowing. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
YOUNG, BRUCE (1992): "Parental Blessings in Shakespeare's Plays", Studies in Philology (University of North Carolina Press), Vol. 89, No. 2, pp. 179-210.
BRATHWAITE, RICHARD (1641): The English gentleman; and The English gentlewoman. London: Printed by Iohn Dawson. Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library [https://archive.org/details/englishgentleman00brat].
CHARTRAND-BURKE, TONY (1997): "Against the Proud Scholars of the Devil: Anti-Intellectual Rhetoric in The Cloud of Unknowing", Mystics Quarterly (University of Cincinnati), Vol. 23; No. 3, pp. 115-136.
COLLEDGE, E. and WALSH, J. (eds.) (1978): A Book of Showings to the Anchoress Julian of Norwich. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies.
ELWIN, VERRIER (1930): Christian Dhya?na; or, Prayer of Loving Regard: A Study of “The Cloud of Unknowing". London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
ENGLERT, ROBERT WILLIAM (1983): Scattering and Oneing: a Study of Conflict in the Works of the Author of the "Cloud of Unknowing". Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg.
FIELD, SEAN L. (2012): The Beguine, the Angel, and the Inquisitor: The Trials of Marguerite Porete and Guiard of Cressonessart. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
GENETTE, GÉRARD (1997): Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Trans. Jane E. Lewin; fwd. Richard Mackesey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
HILDITCH, JANET (1987): "The Cloud of Unknowing": Its Inheritance and its Inheritors. University of Saint Andrews, Thesis (Ph.D.)?
HILTON, WALTER (1995): The Scale (or Ladder) of Perfection. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library [Classic Christian Ethereal Literature at Calvin College in Michigan: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/h/hilton/ladder/cache/ladder.pdf].
HILTON, WALTER (1995): Treatise Written to a Devout Man. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/h/hilton/treatise/cache/treatise.pdf].
HODGSON, PHILLIS (ed.) (1944): The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counselling. London: Oxford University Press.
JOHN-JULIAN, Father. O.J.N. (ed. and. trans.) (2009): The Complete Julian of Norwich. Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press.
JUAN DE LA CRUZ, SAN (1992): Poesía. Ed. Domingo Ynduráin. Madrid. Cátedra.
KEMPE, MARGERY (2004): The Book of Margery Kempe. Trans. and introd. B. A. Windeat. London: Penguin Books.
KIRCHBERGER, CLARE (ed.) (1927): The mirror of simple souls /?by an unknown French mystic of the thirteenth century. Translated into English by M. N. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1927.
LLEWELYN, ROBERT (ed. and trans.) (1983): The Dart of Longing Love: Daily Readings from "The Cloud of Unknowing" and "The Epistle of Privy Counsel". London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
LLEWELYN, ROBERT (1989): With Pity not with Blame: the Spirituality of Julian of Norwich and The Cloud of Unknowing for Today. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
NIEVA, CONSTANTINO SARMIENTO (1971): This Transcending God: The Teaching of the Author of "The Cloud of Unknowing". London: Press, 1971.
POKORN, N. K. (1999): "The Author of The Cloud of Unknowing. Medieval Anonymity and Barthes Death of the Author", English Studies: A Journal of English Letters and Philology, Vol. 80, No. 6, pp. 490-498.
PORETE, MARGUERITE / PORETE MARGARETAE (1986): Le mirouer des simples âmes / Speculum simplicium animarum. Ed. Romana Guarnieri / Paul Verdeyen. Turnholti: Brepols.
PORETE, MARGUERITE (2011): Le miroir des âmes simples et anéanties et qui seulement demeurent en vouloir et désir d'Amour. Trans. and introd. Max Huot de Longchamp. Paris: Albin Michel.
POWER, EILEEN (1995): Medieval Women. Ed. M. M. Postan. London: The Folio Society
PROGOFF, IRA (ed. and trans.) (1959): The Cloud of Unknowing. London: Rider.
RIEHLE, WOLFGANG (2014): The Secret Within: Hermits, Recluses, and Spiritual Outsiders in Medieval England. Trans. Charity Scott-Stokes. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
ROLLE, RICHARD (1972): The Fire of Love. Ed. and trans. Clifton Wolters. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
SPEARING, A. C. (ed. and trans.) (2001): The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works. London: Penguin Books.
SUMMIT, JENNIFER (2000): Lost Property: The Woman Writer and English Literary History, 1380-1589. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
TERESA DE JESÚS, SANTA (1993): Libro de la vida. Ed. Dámaso Chicharro. Madrid: Cátedra.
UNDERHILL, EVELYN (ed. and trans.) (1922): A Book of Contemplation the Which is Called The Cloud of Unknowing, in the Which a Soul is Oned with God. London: John M. Watkins. Format PDF from Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library [Classic Christian Ethereal Litterature at Calvin College in Michigan: https://ccel.org/ccel/a/anonymous2/cloud/cache/cloud.pdf]
WOLTERS, C. (ed. and trans.) (1971): The Cloud of Unknowing. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
YOUNG, BRUCE (1992): "Parental Blessings in Shakespeare's Plays", Studies in Philology (University of North Carolina Press), Vol. 89, No. 2, pp. 179-210.
Downloads
Published
2021-04-30
How to Cite
Salto Sánchez del Corral, A. M. (2021). The Female Authorship: : The Cloud of Unknowing. Review of Anthropology and Philosophy of the Sacrum, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.24310/Raphisa.2021.v5i1.11827
Issue
Section
Miscellaneous
License
License permitted by the journal: Public Domain. Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions.
