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Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2021

Transcending Linguistic Borders in Crashaw’s Teresa Hymns

Résumé

What soul so e’re, in any language, can Speak heav’n like her’s is my soul’s country-man. O ’tis not Spanish, but ‘tis heav’n she speaks! Richard Crashaw, “An Apologie for the fore-going Hymne,” l. 21-23 The son of an Anglican divine, Crashaw was born in 1612 or 1613 and died in 1649 in Italy, following his exile and conversion to Roman Catholicism. Experiencing the ingrained inadequacy of language to relate spiritual states pertaining to heightened devotion and contemplation, he nevertheless sought to articulate his love for God and to inspire his readers. As the above-quoted lines suggest, the border between human languages and heavenly language may be transcended in order to overcome those limitations. Interjections, exclamations and repetitions are common in the Catholic mystical writings Crashaw was undoubtedly familiar with, most notably in Dionysius the Areopagite and Teresa of Avila’s works. They were part of those authors’ attempt at expressing what cannot be said in words. Adopting a formalist and historicist perspective, I purpose to demonstrate that while the mystical poetics at work in Crashaw’s verse certainly heralds his future conversion to Roman Catholicism, it first and foremost sheds light on his burning desire to transcend linguistic borders to speak about God and divine love but also to edify his readers. I will focus on the poet’s four Teresa hymns to contrast the ideal heavenly language situated beyond words and his own awareness of the limitations of language. Then I will analyse the most salient features of his mystical poetics. The emphasis on the physicality of the poetic voice will suggest that his poems ought to be read out loud and thus, although the inadequacy of language may ultimately fail to be transcended, the voice of the reader may reveal the unspeakable msteries of a most intense devotion.

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hal-03520243 , version 1 (10-01-2022)

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  • HAL Id : hal-03520243 , version 1

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Fabrice Schultz. Transcending Linguistic Borders in Crashaw’s Teresa Hymns. Writing journeys across cultural borders, 2021. ⟨hal-03520243⟩

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