Abstract
As a genre defined by its content rather than by its form, the extreme diversity of the kinds of texts that can be considered “hagiographic” often proves an impediment to the progress of comparative hagiology. This essay offers some suggestions for the creation of a controlled vocabulary for the formal description of hagiographic texts, demonstrating how having a more highly developed shared language at our disposal will facilitate both the systematic analysis and the comparative discussion of hagiography.
Highlights
As a genre defined by its content rather than by its form, the extreme diversity of the kinds of texts that can be considered “hagiographic” often proves an impediment to the progress of comparative hagiology
The other core essays in this volume are dedicated to such important concerns as helping us to arrive at a more precise definition of hagiography; to be more reflective concerning the nature and the ethics of comparison; to re-center our understanding of the exemplary figure of the hagiographical representation; and to think about authorship and reception
As a genre defined by its content rather than by its form, there are no limits to what a hagiographic text may look like
Summary
As a genre defined by its content rather than by its form, the extreme diversity of the kinds of texts that can be considered “hagiographic” often proves an impediment to the progress of comparative hagiology. I have found Kleinberg’s taxonomy extremely useful in helping to progress my own thinking, writing, and teaching about sainthood, and believe that the study of hagiography (whether comparative or otherwise) could benefit from having a basic vocabulary and taxonomy for describing and referring to these texts.
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