Silent Reading : women, the church & texts in the vernacular

1. Silent Reading: women,the church & texts in the vernacular • Introduction to English church circa 1200-1400 • division between men and women considered more important than union between clergy and their religious groups. Women were excluded from learning Latin. • 1281. Archbishop Pecham, spearheaded confession and religious instruction in the vernacular. Initiated translation of scripture and theological writings in English.

2. Silent Reading • 1408.Archbishop Arundel enacted “Constitutions” this prohibited lay people from teaching or writing theology or translating the Bible. • readers of bible and theological texts, inherited explanatory practices from Judaism .

3. Silent Reading • 8th century Celtic monks had a poor grasp of second language Latin. Word spacing need. • Aerated script +Arab word spacing. • Word spacing led to monks becomming silent readers. Cross-referencing tools.

4. Silent reading • mysticism + the use of the preposition in the vernacular to describe the abstract, made abstract seem tangible. • Catachresis, misaplication of word.

5. Silent Reading • the printing press, 1476. • brief outline of the novel, lead to the 18th century. • silent reading, women readers: silent, private, viewed with suspicion. The pleasuring of self!

6. Silent Reading • internalised discourse; mute perception. written word limitless. • women, “founders of the universal reading practise of today”.

7. Silent Reading. The photo is a couple of years old – but this is the person to whom you have just been listening! Thank you, and have a good weekend. Tessa Ásgeirsson

9. oral aural