Afterword

doi:10.1017/9781009008631.014

Afterword

Thecla and the Power of an Open Story

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 May 2022

Kate Cooper

Edited by

Ghazzal Dabiri and

Flavia Ruani

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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.

Keywords

Thecla Theocleia Tryphaena marytyrdom violence emotion narratology orality ambiguity.

Type: Chapter
Information: Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
<I>The Acts of Paul and Thecla</I> in Eastern and Western Hagiography
, pp. 318 - 328

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009008631.014 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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Afterword

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