Reading Margery Kempe's inner voices.
Corinne Saunders, Charles Fernyhough
Postmedieval : a journal of medieval cultural studies June 1, 2017 DOI: 10.1057/s41280-017-0051-5 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDrawing on research from the Hearing the Voice project, this article reexamines Margery Kempe's inner voices, emphasizing her spiritual experience as central to her Book. Margery's detailed multi-sensory experiences are compared with those of contemporary voice-hearers, offering an alternative to reductive biomedical views. Cognitive frameworks, especially scientific accounts of inner speech, are used to explore her inner voices and provide insights into the psychology of spiritual meditation.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Argues that Margery Kempe's inner voices, when examined through contemporary voice-hearer accounts and cognitive frameworks, represent a complex spiritual experience that challenges purely biomedical interpretations. |
Abstract
This article draws on research from the major collaborative research project Hearing the Voice, based at Durham University, to reconsider and foreground Margery Kempe's inner voices, and hence, to return to an emphasis on inner, spiritual experience as shaping her Book. The richness of Margery's multi-sensory experience, and the care with which it is depicted, is illuminated by and illuminates the experience of contemporary voice-hearers, offering a powerful alternative perspective to often reductive bio-medical understandings. Contemporary cognitive frameworks, particularly scientific accounts of inner speech, are in turn employed to open out Margery's inner voices and to offer insights into the psychology of spiritual meditation.