A Companion to Ramon Llull and Lullism ed. by Amy M. Austin and Mark D. Johnston

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Companion to Ramon Llull and Lullism ed. by Amy M. Austin and Mark D. Johnston J. Isaac Goff (bio) A Companion to Ramon Llull and Lullism, edited by Amy M. Austin and Mark D. Johnston. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2018. ISBN: 978-90-04-22622-7 (hardback); 978-90-04-37967-1 (e-book). Pages: xxvi + 557. This volume makes an excellent and very important contribution to English-language scholarship on the life, thought, and influence of the Majorcan lay theologian and philosopher, Ramon Llull (c.1232-1316), the Doctor Illuminatus, from his own day through the Renaissance period into the European exploration of the New World. Llull was a brilliant but idiosyncratic thinker, whose interests and writings touched upon, it seems, every major theological and philosophical theme of his day as well as many topics that only would gain greater interest in later centuries. The editors, Amy M. Austin and Mark D. Johnston, in their preface to the volume note right away the main obstacles contemporary (especially English-speaking) readers face when coming to Llull and his reception (vii-ix). The first is simply the size and encyclopedic volume and scope of Llull's writings and their reception over the course of several hundred years. A second obstacle is coming to grips with the massive body of secondary literature on Llull and Lullism. The third is the language barrier for English readers when coming to texts composed mainly in Latin or Llull's native Catalan. Finally, the editors admit that Llull's style and method, especially the development and presentation of his Art, can scare away potential inquirers. The essays in A Companion to Ramon Llull and Lullism succeed admirably in bringing readers past these obstacles by balancing accessibility for those who are new to Llull with a depth and robustness of presentation and content that will aid more-informed scholars. Each essay is written in English, and each, very importantly, presents a topical bibliography that includes non-English-language scholarship. Also, very attractive and helpful are the illustrations of Llull's art in its quaternary and ternary phases (xvii-xxvi). Llull's "work and examples of the major manifestations of his legacy in terms comprehensible to academic readers," (vii) are presented in sixteen essays, divided into five parts. The first part presents "Llull as Philospher and Theologian" with essays by Mark D. Johnston, Henry Berlin, Josep Batalla, and Josep E. Rubio. The section provides an up-to-date presentation of Llull's biography (Johnston) as well as contextual essays (Berlin and Batalla) and a very clear overview of Llull's "Great Universal Art". Part two treats "Llull as Evangelist," with contributions from Gregory Stone, Annemarie Mayer, and Pamela Beattie. Stone sheds light [End Page 284] on the profound impact Llull's lifelong engagement with Islam had upon his understanding of reason in theological discourse, the development of his Art, and his promotion of the importance of the study of languages in missionary activities. Elaborating upon Llull's interaction with Islam, the essays by Meyer and Beattie move into the specifics of Llull's thought and method. Meyer provides a clear presentation and analysis of some of Llull's published dialogues with Muslims, noting the similarities and divergences between Llull and Aquinas. Beattie explains how, uniquely for Llull, the Crusades must include a primary missionary component that first sought reunion with Byzantine Christianity and then for the potential conversion of Islam. Part three, "Llull as Vernacular Writer," contains essays by José Aragüés Aldaz, Alexander W. Ibarz, and Mary Franklin-Brown that seeks to illumine Llull's contributions, sources, method, and scope as the Catalan literary equivalent of Dante. Aragüés Aldaz's very interesting essay compares Llull's use of common literary devices of his day to other examples of medieval literature, showing how Llull's works of literature relate to the exemplarist worldview the Illuminated Doctor presented and developed in his Art. Ibarz presents Llull as "a novelist of primary importance to the evolution of the Western canon" (303). Ibarz offers powerful reasons that support his contention, showing how Llull is perhaps the first writer to employ narrative techniques and analogies that later became commonplace...