Mystique, langage, musique : dire l’indicible au Moyen Âge

Music has long since occupied a privileged place in mystical tradition: chants induce ecstasy, visions are accompanied by auditory perception, and above all the mystical vocabulary is shaped by metaphors, allegories and descriptions from the field of music. In this way, an attempt is being made at communicating and rendering comprehensible both sensually and mentally an experience which transcends any human means of expression. In this interdisciplinary volume, specialists from musicology, philosophy, theology, Hebrew studies, Oriental studies, Mediolatin studies and German studies will – for the first time ever – examine this wide range of issues from various perspectives. They thus sketch a panorama of mystical thinking and speaking reaching from biblical discourse to Simone Weil. Medieval preoccupation – both theoretical and practical – with mysticism and its musical thinking is at the heart of the work. Although the focus is on Western mystical movements and spiritual literature, texts from Eastern cultures (e.g. Georgian Apocrypha) and profane literature (Tristan novel) are also being examined.