In Seinte Margarete, the saint prays that her pain might not be apparent to her torturers: she
treats the torture as a contest with her persecutors, and of course wins, as she can stand
everything they can throw at her, while they get more and more horrified and dispirited;
images in which the martyr looks faintly bored with the process would perhaps be the visual
equivalent. The stress in many of these texts on the saint's control over the torture seems to
me to argue against reading them as pornographic, but this is an open question. Apologies
for self-promotion, but if anyone's interested, I have an article coming out soon on torture in
virgin-martyr texts (though not images).
Sarah Salih
On Tue, 31 Aug 1999 23:02:47 -0700 (PDT) Michelle M. Sauer wrote:
> From: Michelle M. Sauer <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 23:02:47 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: Re: Body Parts
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> I've been following the discussion on body parts and reliquaries with
> interest (although I haven't yet read today's, so forgive me if this is a
> repeat). It seems to me as though Dr. Michelli was asking not only about
> reliquaries, but also about the saints' state of mind during martyrdom.
> Certainly Bynum does address this (try Fragmentation and Redemption), but
> I'd also recommend the following:
>
> "The Ascetic Body and the (Un)Making of the World of the Martyr." Maureen
> A. Tilley. _Journal of the American Academy of Religion_. Fall 1991.
> 467-479.
>
> _The Body in Pain_. Elaine Scarry. Oxford UP, 1985.
>
> You might also look into more modern studies on torture and its
> psychological effects.
>
> These studies, ampng other research, lead me to belive that "blissfulness"
> was a saintly attribute, not solely an artistic one. This belief has
> prevailed even into the present, as numerous saints are praised for their
> "stoic acceptance" of bodily illnesses and deprivation.
>
> Michelle M. Sauer
> Dept. of English
> Washington State University
> Pullman, WA 99164
> (509) 335-3021
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> On Sat, 28 Aug 1999, Pippin Michelli wrote:
>
> > > This is pretty disturbing as well! -- but so many
> > >tortured saints are miraculously given not freedom from pain exactly but
> > >an imperviousness to it, hence no loss of dignity in their martyrdom.
> > >
> >
> > Well, I'd be interested to know if this is a religious attribute of
> > saintliness. I think, myself, that it is an artistic one, going back
> > ultimately to the idea of Idealisation - which requires an expressionless
> > face at all times (to avoid the uglifying distortion that necessarily ensues
> > from expressions) and absolute self-control in all circumstances. Hence,
>
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