Madness and Mysticism: Can a Mediaeval Narrative Inform Our Understanding of Psychosis?

Abstract

This article examines the boundaries between madness and mysticism by presenting a narrative analysis of a medieval first-hand account of madness. TheBook of Margery Kempedetails one woman’s spiritual visions and voices, and her struggle for a sense of belonging amongst different medieval communities. Part of its fame is that it is considered by some to be an early first-hand account of madness. This article argues that whilst Kempe’s book details a self-acknowledged episode of madness in its initial chapter, the remainder of the book describes a negotiation between the contested boundaries of madness and mysticism. The central argument is that this permeable boundary is not confined to the medieval era, but is reflected in recent research that attempts to distinguish between spiritual and psychotic experiences. The article concludes by arguing that the individual meaning of unusual experiences is embedded in the dialectical relationship between cultural values and subjectivity.