Customer Reviews

The Life and Text of Julian of Norwich (Studies in the Humanities (Peter Lang), Vol 32)

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I wondered when ordering whether this book was overpriced or not. My answer after reading the book: it may be a bit pricey, but the content is well worth reading (a few glaring misprints notwithstanding.) Krantz makes clear at the start of this academic study her personal stakes in the issues she seeks to explore, a stance which helped me to gauge where she was coming from. She combines literary/structural analysis of the text, word studies, and psychoanalytical categories to show that Julian's text is informed by and in return informs her understanding of her enclosed life as an anchoress. The ideas of humanity being enclosed in God, of enclosing God within our souls, of birth and birthing, and of Jesus as Mother are explored in gentle yet convincing ways, and one leaves with the impression that Julian's way of theologizing is experiential, tentative, self-reflective, and other-inviting. Would that more theologians had half of Julian's confident humility and winsome integrity. This slim volume helped me to better understand Julian, and to see my own life as enclosed in God's love.