Sound and Mysticism in Late Medieval England

The first sustained study of the sonic dimensions of the medieval mystical experience.

Sound and Mysticism in Late Medieval England explores how late medieval writers understood and speculated on sound--from embodied hearing and textual aurality to "inner" auditory experiences. Moving beyond traditional emphases on visuality in mysticism, the book foregrounds the importance of the "mind's ear" in shaping devotional, contemplative, and theological practices.

Across three thematic sections, contributors examine mystical texts as sonic events, the role of audiation in contemplative life, and the perception of divine speech and heavenly melody in female mysticism. Through major figures of the medieval English mystical tradition such as Richard Rolle, the Cloud-author, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and Richard Methley, as well as English translations of continental mystical texts, the volume reveals how sound mediates between body, cognition, and the divine.

Interdisciplinary in scope, Sound and Mysticism in Late Medieval England opens new pathways for understanding the sensory and affective dimensions of the religious experience.