Wisdom's Journey - by Steven Rozenski (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Steven Rozenski reopens old discussions and addresses new ones concerning late medieval devotional texts, particularly those showing continental and German influences.

For many, Martin Luther's translation of the Bible into German has come to define the spirit of the Protestant Reformation. But there existed a host of devotional and mystical writings translated into the vernacular that had more profound impacts upon lay religious practices and experiences well into the seventeenth century. Steven Rozenski explores this devotional and mystical literature in his focused study of English translations and adaptations of the works of Henry Suso, Catherine of Siena, and Thomas à Kempis, and the common devotional culture manifested in the work of Richard Rolle.

In Wisdom's Journey, Rozenski examines the forms and strategies of late medieval translation, of early modern engagement with Continental medieval devotion, and of the latter's literary afterlives in English-speaking communities. Suso's Rhineland mysticism, the book shows, found initial widespread influence, translation, and adaptation followed by a gradual decline; Catherine of Siena's Italian spirituality saw continued use and retranslation in post-Reformation recusant communities paralleled by vehement denunciation by English Protestants; and Thomas à Kempis's Imitation of Christ attained a remarkably consistent expansion of popularity, translation, and acceptance among both Catholic and Protestant readers well into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Wisdom's Journey traces this path as it reshapes our understanding of English devotional and mystical literature from the 1400s to the 1600s, illuminating its wider European context before and after the Reformations of the sixteenth century. Written primarily for scholars in medieval mysticism, Reformation studies, and translation studies, the book will also appeal to readers interested in medieval studies and English literature more broadly.

Review Quotes

"The scope of this book is capacious and gathers together rich material for scholars wishing to step outside traditional frameworks of studying literature by considering the text's movement across national, linguistic, cultural, and confessional frontiers." --Journal of English and Germanic Philology

"Rozenski offers an illuminating account of the long life of Continental devotional theologies translated in Middle and early modern English, one that invites further consideration of other existing Continental translations circulating in medieval England. It also decompartmentalizes insular England from the continent by showing the extent to which continental literature found its way into Middle English devotional treatises through the work of theologically and textually sophisticated translators. Wisdom's Journey's departitioning of the medieval from the early modern is also a boon that proves to be extremely productive. Rozenski's insightful reflections are well supported by his detailed close readings and multiple references to a vast number of secondary sources."--The Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures

"Rozenski's fine book fulfills its claim that focusing on 'aurality, gender, and translation across regions and across time periods' provides new insight into many aspects of Late Medieval and Early Modern mysticism." --Church History

"[T]he most powerful aspect of this book is its insistence on seeing translation itself as an act of creation and meaning-making, rather than regarding a translated text simply as an altered or, worse, reductive form of its source." --The Review of English Studies

"Rozenski is to be commended for his extensive research and refreshing insight into the literary function of these well-known religious texts." --Anglican Theological Review

"Steven Rozenski explores devotional and mystical literature in his focused study of English translations and adaptations of the works of Henry Suso, Catherine of Siena, and Thomas à Kempis, and the common devotional culture manifested in the work of Richard Rolle. Written primarily for scholars in medieval mysticism, Reformation studies, and translation studies, Wisdom's Journey will also appeal to readers interested in medieval studies and English literature more broadly." --Church History

"Wisdom's Journey crosses the medieval/early modern divide in an accomplished fashion [and] makes a very convincing case for the importance of recognizing the European context of medieval English devotional literature and culture." --Annie Sutherland, author of English Psalms in the Middle Ages, 1300-1450

"A major contribution to our knowledge of the transmission and transformation of crucial medieval devotional writings in later centuries." --Alastair Minnis, author of Translations of Authority in Medieval English Literature

About the Author

Steven Rozenski is an assistant professor of English at the University of Rochester. He is co-editor of Devotional Interaction in Medieval England and Its Afterlives.