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> From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > > One reader has challenged what we said > about multivalent images, saying 'It is unhistorical to read such complex > literary meanings into it ... although objects can and do mean different > things in different contexts, they do not always mean everything, and > Paul's sword [here the notes break off]'. > Hmm, I think the reader may have a point--we can't be sure that a given artisit or preacher was aware of *all* the possible meanings. But I do think it's possible that someone could have been aware of more than one. > The same reader also says in a > general note that we have to distinguish between fundamental and secondary > meanings and present a coherent understanding of what particular images > mean in particular circumstances. > > My reading of the sermon literature of the period (limited, because so > little of it is relevant to Wales) suggests that medieval preachers > certainly were adept in multiplying meanings - but whether I should be > reading this into the visual imagery, I don't know. Comments, anyone? > This discussion has reminded me of a topic I addressed years ago: the different ways the early Franciscan biographers addressed/interpreted the events in Francis' life. Most of all, I was focusing on the biographers' attitudes towards Francis' relationship and interaction with animals. The earliest treatments tended to simply present the incidents--without commentary--as examples of Francis' compassion and caring for all of creation, not just human beings. Celano--especially in 2 Celano--insisted on reading symbolism into the simplest acts. For example, if Francis rescued a wolf, it was explained that he did this for the sake of him who created the wolf, not for the wolf itself. Similarly interaction with birds was presented as intended to convey a symbolic meaning in the various editions of Celano, unlike the accounts in, say, Scripta Leonis, where the actions were simply described. So, I think your reader may have a point: time and place play an important role in the evolution of symbols. Francine %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%