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ABSTRACT
Utilizing linguistics and literary criticism as the interpretive framework, hermeneut Luz Aurora
Pimentel elaborated the theoretical concept of “metaphoric narration.” Metaphoric narration is the
intellectual semiotic, or meaning-making, process of metaphorization at the level of the text; in other
words, Pimentel has experimented with the possibility of metaphor in the context of the whole of a
work rather than just in the context of a sentence. This article tests Pimentel’s experiment by
applying the theory of metaphoric narration to a close reading of Hadewijch of Brabant’s “Vision
1,” asking the question, Does the theory of metaphoric narration assist in analyzing narrative
expression of lived, mystical experience? In working through an interpretation of this text utilizing
Pimentel’s theory, findings indicate that there are characteristics of metaphoric narration that
Hadewijch has leveraged in order to transmute her spiritual experience into written language that
is mimetic of that lived experience. This detailed study indicates that metaphoric narration may be a
useful analytical approach of interest to medieval scholars, as it utilizes semiotics rather than
psychoanalysis for its interpretive reference. It will also be of interest to literary studies in its
articulation of the expressive possibilities offered by metaphoric narration, and to those in religious
studies with an interest in mysticism but limited knowledge of either Hadewijch or literary methods
of analysis. |
