The Senses in Religious Communities, 1600–1800: Early Modern ‘Convents of Pleasure’ by, Nicky Hallett (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Senses in Religious Communities, 1600–1800: Early Modern ‘Convents of Pleasure’ by, Nicky Hallett Samuel K. C. Baudinette Hallett, Nicky, The Senses in Religious Communities, 1600–1800: Early Modern ‘Convents of Pleasure’ (Women and Gender in the Early Modern World), Farnham, Ashgate, 2013; hardback; pp. 262; R.R.P. £55.00; ISBN 9781409449461. In her book, Nicky Hallett offers an ambitious and highly engaging account of the sensory experiences of an early modern religious community for women. Hallett does an excellent job of presenting a unique and under-studied set of archival materials, that of the English Discalced Carmelite communities of Lierre and Antwerp. By drawing upon a large range of sources, including early modern debates about the senses in theology and philosophy, and modern discussions of the senses in philosophy, history, and anthropology, Hallett is able to explore both how the senses were understood and felt in early modern convents of contemplation. Her study is divided thematically into chapters which each consider how the five senses of touch, taste, hearing, smell, and sight were mediated in the writings of the English Carmelite sisters. The strongest aspect of Hallett’s study is her ability throughout to draw particular connections between developments in early modern scientific notions of sensual perception, such as those found in Descartes, and the notion, so characteristic of the mysticism of Teresa of Ávila, founder of the Discalced Order for women, that mystical union occurs beyond the senses, so that the contemplative must be wary of them. Hallett’s book also provides a careful study of the way the Carmelite sisters employed various techniques in order to authenticate their sensory and mystical experiences against male scepticism about female ecstatic writing. However, Hallett spends very little time directly reflecting on attendant issues regarding the gendered nature of the sisters’ writing, or the responses produced by male religious authorities. Although Hallett briefly touches upon this issue in her Introduction, and returns to it again in her Conclusion, it is surprisingly absent from the actual analysis of her sources. What little discussion there is, occurs in the footnotes, often as an aside. Other ideas [End Page 226] flagged by Hallett in her Introduction for consideration, such as her interest in Antwerp as a sensory space, similarly go unexplored. Ultimately, this book is of great interest to sensory historians and scholars of early modern women’s religious experience alike. Specialists in mysticism, and Teresa of Ávila especially, will also appreciate Hallett’s study for its admirable portrayal of a relatively unknown community who mediate their often self-written sensory reflections in the language of Teresian spirituality. Samuel K. C. Baudinette Monash University Copyright © 2014 Samuel K. C. Baudinette