Description: (Em)bodying the Word contributes to the field of work on the body by exploring three Calvinist martyrological narratives (Crespin, D'Aubigné and de Bèze) and one Anglican text (Foxe) to elucidate the relationships among theological and literary treatments of the body, word and image. Coats distinguishes between Catholic hagiographical accounts and Protestant «martyrologies, » specifying the privileging of word over image or body as the primary difference. This reliance on word, while a tributary of Calvinism, is also a major factor in the development of a Calvinist aesthetic. The study therefore explores four works from a new angle, that of literary and theological interpretation.
Review Quotes: «With great sensitivity to both theological and literary matters, Professor Coats demonstrates how the martyrologies written by sixteenth-century Protestants differ decisively from Catholic hagiographies. This is original and exciting scholarship, a significant contribution towards our understanding of Calvinist poetics.» (Robert D. Cottrell, The Ohio State University)
«Dr. Coats demonstrates how the destroyed bodies of Protestant martyrs were made to live anew in the text of the early martyrologists. She sharply challenges those historians who see in Protestant martyrology little more than an adaptation and continuation of medieval hagiography. To the contrary, her research shows that the reformed tradition effected a deep and persistent cultural reorientation.» (Charles G. Nauert, Jr. University of Missouri-Columbia)