TITLE:
The Strife of Love in a Dream in the Context of Christian Monasticism: An Example of Lectio Divina and a Secret Monastic Code
AUTHORS:
Liza Piña-Rubio
KEYWORDS:
Secret Knowledge, Spiritual Battle, Therapeutic Writing, Creative Remembrance
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Literary Study,
Vol.10 No.1,
November
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: The present paper recognizes the pertinence of the monastic culture in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili or Strife of Love in a Dream, written by Francesco Colonna in 1499. Taking as a starting point the hypothesis that the author was a Venetian monk, the research demonstrates the omnipresent Christian context in a novel that traditionally has been considered “pagan” and identifies the religious profession of the author projected over the protagonist (Poliphilo). Monastic codes of secret knowledge, prayer and meditation are content in a literary masterpiece, that reveals inner battles of the soul like distractions of the mind. Topics about free will and morality, and the recovery of human dignity, based on the role of the senses involved in the cognitive process are some of the conclusions that stem from the study of this novel from a Christian perspective.