COMPARATIVE MYSTICAL LITERATURE
INSTRUCTOR: Michael A Sells,
Office: Gest 201, ex. 1027
Time: T-Th 10:00-11:30
In the period 1200-1325 C.E., the mystical traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each culminated centuries of development and blossomed into writings of unsurpssed depth and complexity: The Zohar and related works in Judaism, the writings of the Beguine mystics and Meister Eckhart in Christianity, and the writings of Ibn `Arabi, Rumi, and `Attar in Islam. Each of these traditions was clearly distinctive and "its own," but each participated in a larger pattern of Abrahamic thought and classical traditions of late antiquity that allowed them also to form part of a larger civilizational environment, a play of unity and diversity that would be disrupted in the following century and broken by the events surrounding the epoque-ending year of 1492. Each of these three sets of mystical writings has experienced a major resurgence of interest in the past half century.
This is a course devoted to Jewish, Islamic and Christian Mystical Literature, with an emphasis on the the Dominican Meister Eckhart (d. 1327), Beguine Mystics Hadewijch of Antwerp and Margarete Porete (d. 1310), Sufi "Grand Master" Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240), and the author of The Zohar, Moses de Léon (d. 1305).
Each of the three traditions will be treated in a separate section of the course. We will not engage in extended comparisons among the three traditions (we will have plenty to do with what we have), but the similarities and contrasts will inform the course. The tradition of apophatic mysticism (sometimes called negative theology) will be the concern of this course and we will focus on the 12th and 13th centuries CE when apophatic mysticism reached its culmination. We will on close readings of primary texts and the discussion, in class, of those texts. For this reason, it is a course requirement to have a copy of the required books and to bring the relevant book to class when it is being discussed (see supplementary page on books).
Please note that this course is listed in both Religion and Comparative Literature and the focus is upon the literary dimension of the texts, which includes the philosophical, theological, and experiential aspects of the tradition within the framework of discussions of extraordinary works of literature. Contemporary mystical practices will not be addressed in this course, except insofar as they illuminate or challenge the classical works at the centerof discussion.
The format of this class is largely that of the seminar. Short, background lectures will be offered, as necessary, but discussion grows out of questions posed by students during the assigned readings.
Requirements:
Required Texts:
Recommended Texts:
Reading Assigments are usually given by week, not by class day. Weekly assignments are expected to be read read by Tuesday. Class discussions on Tuesday will make clear which texts need to be reviewed for discussion on Thursday. Thus, for example, the readings for the third week 9/18, 9/21 should all be read by class on Tuesday, the 18th.
Week 1 (1/21, 1/23): Introduction, The Apophatic Mystical Tradition in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Meister Eckhart. Eckhart.
Week 2 (1/28, 1/30): The Birth of the Son in the Soul: Eckhart and Christian Apophatic Mysticism
Week 3 (2/4, 2/6): Nobility and Poverty of the Spirit. On 9/18, Tuesday, there will be no class.
Week 4 (2/11, 2/13): Beatrice of Nazareth, Hadewijch of Antwerp, Hadewijch II (Pseudo-Hadewijch?)
Week 5 (2/18, 2/20): Marguerite Porete and The Mirror of the Simple Souls
Week 6a (2/25): First Paper Due in class, at the beginning of class, 10:00 AM.
Week 6b (2/27): Introduction to Ibn `Arabi
Week 7 (3/4, 3/6): The Polished Mirror and the Complete Human Being (al-Insan al-Kamil)
Spring Vacation (3/11, 3/13)
Week 8 (3/18, 3/20): The Heart Receptive of Every Form
Week 9 (3/25, 3/27): Human and Divine Interpermeation (takhallul)
Recommended: Bezels of Wisdom, Isaac and Ishmael 96-110
Week 10 (4/1, 4/3): Ecstatic and Theurgic Kabbalah
Week 11 (4/8,4/10): American Academy of Religion Conference, no class, Readings:
Week 12 (4/15, 4/17): Sefirot and the Dynamic Polarity of Male and Female
Week 13 (4/22, 4/24): Healing the World (Tikkun)
Week 14a (4/29): The timed (1 hour) *** TAKE HOME ESSAY ON THE ZOHAR *** will be distributed in class.
Week 14b (5/1): Class discussions, Review, Theoretical and
Comparative Remarks, and Discussion of Final Paper.
Q: Does the final paper have to
take up more than one tradition.
A: No. In fact, it is preferable, in the vast majority of cases, to
focus upon one of the three traditions. Attempts to compare across
traditions require background work and theoretical discussion beyond
the boundary of a paper of this length, except in exceptional
circumstances.
Q: Is regular class participation
really required
Y: Yes. If you miss several classes or consecutive classes, send me
an email explaining why. Otherwise, your overall evaluation will
suffer significantly.
Q: What is the policy on
extenstions.
A: No extensions except in cases of emergency ( such a serious
illness, family emergency), attested to by a note or call from the
dean. All other late work will be penalized (according to the wisdom
of the instructor). No oral discussions with students will take place
on extenuating circumstances. If there are extenuating circumstances
(which may mitigate but not eliminate the penalty for non-emergency
(as defined above) late work, the explanation should be made in
written form, by email or campus mail.
Q: Can I get an extension on the
final paper
A: By college regulation, instructors are not permitted to grant
extensions to students for work not submitted by the formal end of
semester. All extensions or incompletes must go through the Dean,
and are granted for only severe problems such as major illness,
family emergency, or similarly special circumstances.
Q: Must I fulfill all the requirements to pass the course?
All books required or recommended for my classes are available at the Haverford College bookstore. If the book is not available, please contact me immediately, through email or by mentioning the problem in class. Class books make up only a tiny percentage of the overall cost of a course at Haverford, but the book budget appears to be one of the only areas where a student has some sense of control. As an instructor, I am responsible each year to turn into the bookstore manager a list of required books and a list of recommended books. In general I attempt:
A) To keep the cost of books to the absolute minimum needed
B) To avoid expensive general textbooks published by large commercial firms
C) To require only books that are absolutely needed for the course and also have enduring value
D) To avoid driving the already harried bookstore folks crazy with changes or with orders of books that are not purchased
E) To avoid ripping off authors and publishers by abusing photocopiers
F) At the same time, to make a photocopy packet of small selections from a number of books, selections needed for the class. Unfortunately, the religion department has no budget to provide subsidize such reading packets. There we must charge students for the cost of the packets. I hate charging anybody for anything at anytime anywhere. But if we do not requirement reimbursements, we then go over our budget and get into trouble with the authorities.
For complex institution reasons, courses at Haverford do not have a reserve shelf at Bryn Mawr libraries (and vice-versa). I attempt to be particularly careful in assigning reserve readings. However, in some cases it is necessary to rely on reserves. In such cases, if a book is very important (such a Scholem's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism in Comparative Mystical Literature), but not central enough to require purchase, I strongly recommend that Bryn Mawr students (and any other students) who find it inconvenient to use the reserve purchase the volume.
My courses are focused upon intensive readings of primary texts. For this reason books on the required list are, really, required. (Of course, sometimes we forget to bring a book or text to class, which is understandable and these remarks are directed only to those cases where a student does not in fact have a copy of the book at all). In the past, students who have tried to get by without a required book have seriously damaged their ability to get the most out of the course (along with their performance in the courses). For this reason, it is now a course requirement to have a copy of the books required for the class and to bring it to class during discussion. Using a library copy is risky, because it can be recalled at any time, leaving you a bad situation.
When there are multiple copies of a translation, only the translation listed on the syllabus is suitable for use in class. Otherwise, there is chaos in attempting to discuss a particular page or passage together as a class. Of course, consulting and comparing other translations outside of class is always encouraged. Occasionally, I assign books authored by myself for courses. I consider it improper for an instructor to profit from requiring students to purchase his book. An author of an academic book generally receives a royalty of about a dollar or two for each book sold. When books of mine are required, I donate the amount of royalties received (generally in the range of $1:00 per book) to charity. I therefore take no profit from books authored by myself when they are required readings.
It is almost impossible for an instructor to know whether the his book requirements are burdening the students financially more than is reasonable. For this reason, if the cost of books required for any of my courses exceeds the reasonable norm for a course, please let me know.
On of the most rewarding parts of my college experience took place after graduation. In some cases I had kept books that I had appreciated, had not (for a variety of reasons, including the depth and complexity of the book involved) fully exhausted my interest in it. When later, at a given moment I had a chance to reread the book, the reading experiences were somes at a level of particular depth and fascination. Clearly, one cannot move from place to place with an entire library, but I would personally recommend keeping a few such books to come back to in later years.
Evaluation Criteria and Meaning of Grades