 previous article in this issue | next article in this issue  |
|
Document Details : Title: Crossing Rivers, Confronting Crocodiles Subtitle: Aquatic Space, Ambiguous Creatures, and Ascetic Life in Late Antiquity Author(s): GILHUS, Ingvild Sælid Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Volume: 97 Issue: 3 Date: 2021 Pages: 411-426 DOI: 10.2143/ETL.97.3.3289712 Abstract : The theme of this article is how aquatic space was produced, imagined, and experienced by ascetics and monastics in Christian Egypt. I apply a wilderness perspective to the Nile in order to see how the imagined space of the river shifted character, depending on how it was conceived and experienced. The article, which discusses various types of aquatic space and their role in creating ascetic identity, distinguishes between several aspects of the River Nile: the life-giving river; the river seen through the ascetic gaze as a negative image of life in this world; the river as a wilderness embodied in crocodiles; and the river as a life-threatening watery wilderness, which envelops different types of geophysical aquatic spaces. A special focus is how wilderness is present and sometimes lies dormant in other types of space. |
|
