Our Work

Distraction is now too easily and often considered a metonym for modern consciousness, but it was also a medieval concern, which posed a particular threat to religious life. Distraction opened the door to all other temptations, and—most disturbingly of all—it invalidated central devotional acts such as reading, praying, and reciting the Psalms. Far from an innocuous sensation, distraction posed a significant spiritual danger. It also generated powerful countervailing responses in literature, pedagogy, and religious observance, profoundly shaping literary interpretation in the process. The Hermeneutics of Distraction writes this cultural and intellectual history. In doing so, the book reveals that the pervasive threat of distraction precipitated the development of several different tactics for reorienting attention, especially in the tenth-century monastic correction movement traditionally known as the Benedictine Reform, which reshaped monastic life across Europe. In England, this movement was spearheaded by Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester. By examining the substantial literary output of Æthelwold and his circle as a unified corpus, The Hermeneutics of Distraction shows that these reformers developed a demanding hermeneutic style in both English and Latin in order to fend off complacency and recall wandering minds. The book thus comes at the topic of distraction through the study of the affective practices of a particular community of writers and readers, but it also explores the implications of this focused study both for a larger historical context (Western monasticism from the fifth century to the twelfth) and for the history of a unifying concept (the experience of distraction).

Learn More