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Afterword

Thecla and the Power of an Open Story

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2022

Ghazzal Dabiri
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Flavia Ruani
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
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Summary

Perhaps more than most ancient traditions, Thecla’s has been characterized by controversy, and yet little attention has been paid to the positive value of indeterminacy in the Thecla tradition. After offering an overview of approaches to the Acts of Paul and Thecla and related texts over the last half-century, we ask how the open qualities of Thecla as a protagonist may have enhanced her tradition’s ability to serve as the basis for successive re-imaginings. We conclude by suggesting that as ‘an ambiguous heroine in an unstable story’ Thecla exemplifies the value of indeterminacy and instability in hagiography.

Type
Chapter
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Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
<I>The Acts of Paul and Thecla</I> in Eastern and Western Hagiography
, pp. 318 - 328
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Afterword
  • Edited by Ghazzal Dabiri, University of Maryland, College Park, Flavia Ruani, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
  • Book: Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
  • Online publication: 06 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009008631.014
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  • Afterword
  • Edited by Ghazzal Dabiri, University of Maryland, College Park, Flavia Ruani, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
  • Book: Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
  • Online publication: 06 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009008631.014
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Afterword
  • Edited by Ghazzal Dabiri, University of Maryland, College Park, Flavia Ruani, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
  • Book: Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
  • Online publication: 06 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009008631.014
Available formats
×