Teresa of Avila's Autobiography: Authority, Power and the Self in Mid-sixteenth Century Spain

by Elena Carrera

Overview

The Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila (1515-82) was the author of one of the most acclaimed early modern autobiographies - "Vida". This text examines the impact of textual models on Teresa's self-construction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781900755962
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/01/2004
Series:	Legenda Series
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Elena Carrera is Senior Lecturer in Spanish at Oxford Brookes University. She holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford, and has taught at the universities of Zaragoza, Nottingham, Oxford and Birkbeck College, London.

Table of Contents

Introduction, 1 The Background of Teresa’s Writing: Spirituality as a Subjective Form of Knowledge, 2 Experience versus Intellect: The ‘Will to Knowledge’ and the Practice of Recogimiento, 3 Redefining the Boundaries between Truth and Error (1525-1559), 4 Teresa’s Criticism of Confessors (1539-1554), 5 Practices of the Self: Mortification , Obedience and Genera Confession (1554 - 1559) 6 Subverting the Structure of Confession: Role Reversals (1560-1565), 7 Writing the Self (1562-1565), Conclusion.