'Du bist selben eyn himmel.' Textualization and Transformation in the Life of Dorothea von Montau

ISSN： 1745-9214

Source： Oxford German Studies, Vol.39, Iss.2, 2010-07, pp. : 147-159

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Abstract

This article examines the way in which the German Life of Dorothea reflects on its own status as the textualization of the protagonist's mystical experiences. After considering the presentation of Dorothea's interaction with Johannes Marienwerder and Johannes Reyman, the article proceeds to examine the ways in which Dorothea's spiritual career is modelled on that of John the Evangelist in relation to mystical rapture and transformation. However, it will also be argued that the text separates the mystical and the authorial roles of John, mapping the former onto Dorothea, and the latter onto the confessor, in such a way that the two individuals jointly constitute a spiritual phenomenon analogous to that of the beloved disciple. This serves to thematize the communicative difficulties inherent in a partnership in which textualization takes place at several removes from the mystical experience itself.