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  2. HDS 3802

Mysticism and Literature
HDS 3802

Jointly Offered with: Faculty of Arts & Sciences as COMPLIT 114, Faculty of Arts & Sciences as RELIGION 1623

Course Information

Description

Examines trends, issues and debates in the comparative study of mystical literature. Close readings of primary works by Jewish, Christian and Muslim authors from the Middle Ages through the 16th century. Premodern authors include Saint John of the Cross, Saint Theresa of Ávila, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Hadewijch, Pseudo-Dionysius, Dante Alighieri, Bernard of Clairvaux, Margery Kempe, Bahya ibn Paquda, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Yehudah Halevi, Moses de León (Sefer ha-Zohar), Maulana Rumi, al-Hallaj, Ibn Farid, Ibn al-‘Arabi, and Fariduddin Attar. Topics include poetry and mysticism; allegory, symbolism and Scripture; body and gender; apophasis vs cataphasis; exemplarity and autobiographism; language and experience. Also examines creative engagement of pre-modern mystical literature in selected works by modern authors (Borges, T.S. Eliot, Rilke), scholars of religion (Bernard McGinn, Moshe Idel, Annemarie Schimmel) and literary / cultural theorists (Michel de Certeau, Michael Sells). Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Comparative Literature 211.

School Harvard Divinity School
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Not Available for BTI Cross Registration

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Course Component Seminar
Instruction Mode In Person
Grading Basis HDS Letter Graded
MTS/ThM Area of Focus Christianity
Islamic Studies
Jewish Studies
Religion, Literature, and Culture
Arts of Ministry N/A
MDiv Histories, Theologies, and Practices Comparative
Language Course Type N/A
Language Taught N/A
MDiv Scriptural Interpretation N/A
Course Level N/A