The suffering self : pain and narrative representation in early Christian era / Judith Perkins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Perkins, Judith, 1944-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Suffering--Religious aspects--Christianity--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Suffering.

Pain--Religious aspects--Christianity--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Pain.

Identification (Religion)--History--To 1500.

Identification (Religion).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (262 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 1995.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Suffering Self is a ground-breaking, interdisciplinary study of the spread of Christianity across the Roman empire. Judith Perkins shows how Christian narrative representation in the early empire worked to create a new kind of human self-understanding - the perception of the self as sufferer. Drawing on feminist and social theory, she addresses the question of why forms of suffering like martyrdom and self-mutilation were so important to early Christians.This study crosses the boundaries between ancient history and the study of early Christianity, seeing Christian representati

Contents:

Front Cover; The Suffering Self; Copyright Page; Contents; Permissions; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Death as a Happy Ending; 2. Marriages as Happy Endings; 3. Pain Without Effect; 4. Suffering and Power; 5. Healing and Power: The Acts of Peter; 6. The Sick Self; 7. Ideology, Not Pathology; 8. Saints' Lives: The Community of Sufferers; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-246) and index.

ISBN:

1-134-79894-6

0-203-21006-9

1-134-79895-4

1-280-32437-6

9780203210062

OCLC:

437082344