'Although hundreds of years of illuminated Bible history precede this new installment, the St. John's Bible offers a novel blend of two distinct cultural and historical eras: the medieval and the postmodern." L L U M I N A T I N G A C U L T U R E , A H I S T O R Y , A T R A D I T I O N Conceptual Blending in the St. John's Bible E R I N E. E I G H A N I N 1998, S T . J O H N ' S A B B E Y I N C O L L E G E V I L L E , M I N N E S O T A C O M M I S S I O N E D D O N A L D J A C K S O N T O P R O D U C E O N E O F T H E F I R S T H A N D - W R I T T E N , H A N D-1 L L U M I N A T E D B I B L E S S I N C E T H E I N V E N T I O N O F T H E P R I N T I N G P R E S S I N T H E F I F T E E N T H C E N T U R Y . T H E O N - G O I N G P R O J E C T B R I D G E S D I S P A R A T E T R A D I T I O N S I N A U N I Q U E B L E N D O F T H E M E D I E V A L A N D P O S T M O D E R N E R A S . T H I S A R T I C L E A D O P T S C O G N I T I V E L I T E R A R Y T H E O R Y T O E X A M I N E T H E S T . J O H N ' S B I B L E , S P E C I F I C A L L Y T H E F R O N T I S P I E C E T O T H E G O S P E L O F J O H N , A N D T H E T E X T - 1 M A G E I N T E R A C T I O N C O N T A I N E D W I T H I N A S P R O D - U C T S O F C O N C E P T U A L B L E N D I N G . A C O G N I T I V E H I S T O R I C A L A P P R O A C H T O T H E S T . J O H N ' S B I B L E R E V E A L S T H E C O M P L I C A T E D R E L A T I O N S H I P O F T H E M O D E R N - D A Y A U D I - E N C E T O T H E I L L U M I N A T E D T E X T . T E N S I O N S A R E I N E V I T A B L E W I T H I N A N Y C O G N I T I V E B L E N D ; T H E S A M E A P P L I E S T O T H E R E A D E R - V I E W E R ' S E X P E R I E N C E O F T E X T - 1 M A G E I N - T E G R A T I O N H E R E . T H E K E Y T O C O G N I T I V E B L E N D I N G I S T H E E M E R G E N T E X P E R I E N C E O F T H E T A R G E T E L E M E N T . I N T H I S C A S E , T H E P O S T M O D E R N B I B L E A S T A R G E T B L E N D S W I T H I T S M E D I E V A L P R E D E C E S S O R S T O P R O D U C E T H E S T . J O H N ' S B I B L E — A N I N T E R - S U B J E C T I V E , M U L T I M O D A L , C R O S S - G E N E R A T I O N A L A R T I F A C T O F A C O G N I T I V E B L E N D . I N T R O D U C T I O N Cognit ive l i terary theory is a new interd isc ip l inary ap- proach to l i terature , b r i d g i n g gaps between " l inguis t ics , computer science, psychology, neuroscience, phi losophy o f m i n d , a n d anthropology" w h i c h appears to be " g a i n i n g the force o f an imperat ive" i n academic circles. 1 Science and art collaborate as equals, d r a w i n g o n so-called "left b r a i n " and " r i g h t b r a i n " processes to formulate a m o r e complete l i ter- ary analysis. Current ly i n academia, l i terary theories w o r k actively to d i s t i n g u i s h themselves by of fer ing d is t inct "de- f in i t ive readings" o f a text. M a n y readings can and do emerge f r o m a g iven text. Each school o f l i terary analysis— i n a d d i t i o n to of fer ing a dist inct ive reading—often s imulta- neously works to de leg i t imize other readings i n order to gain authority. Cognit ive l i terary theory dist inguishes i t se l f n o t only by of fer ing a new reading, b u t by present ing a way to synthesize the seemingly ant i thet ical readings offered by Marxist , f emin i s t , pragmatist , New Crit ical , post-structural- ist, deconstruct ionist , and psychoanalytical l i terary theo- ries. By g r o u n d i n g i t se l f i n cognit ive science and neu- roanatomy, this n e w theory provides a f r a m e w o r k capable o f i n c o r p o r a t i n g a l l forms o f l i terary c r i t i c i s m . By analysis w i t h i n this f r a m e w o r k i t is possible to synthesize the m o s t salient and wel l -grounded cr i t ic i sms o f exist ing theories w i t h respect to a g iven text. Precisely because o f th is capacity to u n i t e disparate c r i t i - c isms, the appl icat ion o f cognit ive l i terary theory to re l i - gious texts is b o t h attractive and controversial . Not least a m o n g these controversies is the apparent confl ict between the scientific roots o f th is m o d e o f analysis a n d the sp i r i tua l nature o f re l ig ious texts. The realms o f r e l i g i o n and theol- ogy—once of f - l imits to scientific invest igat ion—are ferti le g r o u n d for cognit ive scientific inqui ry . For cognitive l iter- ary theory one o f the m o s t ferti le patches is the Bible, w h i c h for hundreds o f years has been subject to o n g o i n g debate regarding the establ ishment o f a def init ive reading o f the text. Th i s b ib l ica l context has proved a grand stage for the cr i t ical discourse between c o m p e t i n g l i terary theories tak- i n g place i n Engl i sh departments across the country. Therefore, i n addressing the Bible, cognit ive l i terary theory undertakes n o t only to show that cognit ive science can ef- fectively c o m m e n t o n rel igious matters , b u t also to show that l i terary theory can provide a synthetic consensus o n perhaps the m o s t i n f l u e n t i a l text i n p r i n t today. W h i l e cognitive theory can approach the Bible i n various ways, o f part icular interest is the col laborat ion between the- ologians and artists to produce i l l u m i n a t e d manuscr ipts o f holy texts. The i l l u m i n a t e d Bibles o f the medieval per iod are perhaps the best -known examples o f these cross-modal texts, w h e r e i n the reader m u s t integrate two m e d i u m s — text and i m a g e — i n order to arrive at the richness o f under- s tanding in tended by the authors. D i s t ingu i shed i l l u m i - nated Bibl ical texts inc lude the Book o f Kells (ca. 9 t h century) , the Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 8 t h century) , the Winchester Bible (ca. 12th century) , and the Bibles f r o m Tours (ca. 9 t h century) . I n the last f ifteen years, artists and theologians at St. John's Univers i ty i n Collegeville, Minnesota have w o r k e d to create an i l l u m i n a t e d Bible for the twenty-f irst century. The St. John's Bible is one o f the only m o d e r n i l l u m i n a t e d Bibles since the i n v e n t i o n o f the p r i n t i n g press, and the first i n five h u n d r e d years to have been c o m m i s s i o n e d by a Benedict ine monastery, est imated to becompleted i n 2010. A l t h o u g h hundreds o f years o f i l l u m i n a t e d Bible h is tory precede this new ins ta l lment , the St. John's Bible offers a novel b l e n d o f two dis t inct cu l tura l and his tor ica l eras: the medieval and the p o s t m o d e r n . I n terms o f cognit ive theory, this cu l tura l b l e n d suggests M a r k Turner and Gilles Fauconnier's theory o f conceptual b l e n d i n g . 1 1 This theory provides s ingular i n s i g h t i n t o the cultures at play i n the St. John's Bible and sheds new l i g h t o n the re lat ionship be- tween text and image i n i l l u m i n a t e d manuscr ipts . To proceed, I w i l l out l ine the conceptual metaphor theory and other cognitive and visual-reading theories germane to this project. I w i l l br ief ly investigate cu l tura l h i s tory sur- r o u n d i n g the p o s t m o d e r n concept ion o f the i l l u m i n a t e d Bible. Subsequently, I w i l l examine i n detail the re lat ion- ship between text a n d image i n the St. John's Bible w i t h re- E L E M E N T S : : S P R I N G 10 gard to cognitive l i terary theory. I w i l l analyze the St. John's Bible as a u n i q u e product o f disparate cultures, t imes , and places, focusing o n its t reatment o f the Gospel o f John. I w i l l conclude by deta i l ing b o t h the positive and negative ef- fects o f a cross-modal presentat ion o f a text w h i c h are con- troversial a m o n g current l i terary theories. T h o u g h this text is s t i l l an incomplete sentence i n the his tory books o f i l l u - m i n a t e d manuscr ipts , I w i l l demonstrate that the St. John's Bible has the potent ia l to persist as a u n i q u e c u l t u r a l and cognitive artifact for m a n y generations. C O G N I T I V E A N D V I S U A L T H E O R I E S E X P A N D E D Two m a i n s t r e a m cognitive l i terary theories contr ibute to the discussion o f the cognitive impl i ca t ions a n d histor ica l i m p a c t o f the St. John's Bible. The first is the conceptual b l e n d i n g theory developed by Turner and Fauconnier, later developed by Turner i n t o the b l e n d i n g theory o f metaphor and parable . 1 1 1 Th i s theory can be appl ied to the St. John's Bible b o t h i n e x a m i n i n g the text's in teract ion w i t h cu l tura l and his tor ica l trends and i n u n d e r s t a n d i n g the text-image juxtapos i t ion. Fur thermore , i t may add cognitive support to the properties o f iconography and schematizat ion o f i l l u - m i n a t e d medieval manuscr ipts . Mary C. Olson's analysis o f iconography and schematizat ion w i l l be discussed later . l v The second i m p o r t a n t theory is Jack W i l l i a m s o n ' s grada- t ions o f the g r i d theory o f v isual syntax a n d textual architec- ture . W h i l e previous cognitive theorists have focused o n textual in terpreta t ion , Wi l l i amson ' s theory grounds m y analysis i n a visual reading o f the St. John's Bible. I t offers ins ight i n t o the const ruct ion o f i l l u m i n a t e d manuscr ipts f r o m four h is tor ica l periods o f Western a r t , v i n c l u d i n g those in f luenced by the pos t -modern p e r i o d o f the St. John's Bible. Conceptual b lending—also k n o w n as "conceptual integra- t i o n " v l — i s a cognitive process creat ing a product ive rela- t i o n s h i p between an otherwise unassociated source a n d target i n order to better unders tand the target. W h e n an el- e m e n t o f the target conceptual f ramework , or d o m a i n , is "The realms of religion and theology—once off-limits to scientific investigation—are fertile ground for cognitive scientific inquiry." cognized i n terms o f the source d o m a i n , and the cognit ive b l e n d enriches the target. M a r k Turner and Gilles Fauconnier assume a m o d u l a r neura l architecture: differ- ent types o f i n f o r m a t i o n are handled i n d is t inct "cognitive spaces" v u and integrated by i n t e r v e n i n g processes/ 1 1 1 Simple conceptual b l e n d i n g requires four cognit ive spaces: one input space for the target d o m a i n (A); one space for the source domain (A'); a generic space ident i f y ing and contain- i n g c o m m o n elements; and a blended space for the synthetic u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f the target . l x Three basic processes oper- ate w i t h i n a n d between these four neura l spaces: composi- t i o n , c o m p l e t i o n , and elaboration. First, composition b r ings the target and source domains together. T h e n , completion identif ies the paral lel elements by m a p p i n g the target do- m a i n onto the source d o m a i n . Lastly, the target's qualit ies are elaborated based o n the completed domain map. Metaphor is a s imple example o f conceptual b l e n d i n g . x Consider the example: "This surgeon is a butcher."* 1 A l l the qualit ies o f a butcher occupy i n p u t space A ; al l qualit ies o f a surgeon occupy i n p u t space A ' . S imultaneous considera- t i o n o f these two spaces constitutes compos i t ion . C o m p l e t i o n proceeds by m a p p i n g the two i n p u t spaces onto each other as fol lows: Initially, the metaphor may seem to [be] explainable in terms of direct projection from the source domain of butch- ery to the target domain of surgery, guided by a series of fixed counterpart mappings: "butcher" onto "surgeon"; "animal" (cow) maps onto "human being"; "commodity" onto "pa- I L L U M I N A T I N C A C U L T U R E , A H I S T O R Y , A T R A D I T I O N tient"; "cleaver" onto "scalpel"; and so forth.*11 Grady, Coulson, and Oakley note that th is may seem l ike the ent i re content o f the metaphor, b u t the cognit ive b lend- i n g is n o t yet complete. A surgeon is surely incompetent i f he is b e i n g compared to a butcher, b u t there is no source " incompetency" i n h e r e n t i n "butcher-ness" that cou ld be projected onto the target surgeon. H o w d i d i t get there? Th i s p h e n o m e n o n is crucia l to elaboration. Product ive— or " e m e r g e n t " 5 " 1 1 — c o n t e n t is revealed by the juxtapos i t ion o f elements i n the generic space. I n this example, produc- tive content emerges f r o m incompat ib le means-end rela- t ionships between the butcher and the surgeon. I n i n p u t space A , the butcher 's goal is to k i l l the a n i m a l and carve its flesh f r o m its bones; i n i n p u t space A , the surgeon's goal is to heal the patient. W h e n the source's means-end relat ion- ship is m a p p e d onto the target's means-end re lat ionship , the r e s u l t i n g product is an incompetent surgeon. T h u s , the characteristic feature o f conceptual b l e n d i n g theory is this product ive content w h i c h emerges f r o m the compar i son between target and source. As m e n t i o n e d above, Jack W i l l i a m s o n ' s g r i d theory offers a part icular ly effective way to analyze the visual architecture o f i l l u m i n a t e d manuscr ipts . The g r i d — c o m p r i s e d o f the interact ions between points and axial l ines w i t h i n an image—is present i n Western art f r o m the late-medieval per iod t h r o u g h the p o s t m o d e r n p e r i o d . x l v W i l l i a m s o n pro- "The St. John's Bible is one of the only illuminated bibles produced since Johannes Gutenburg developed the printing press in 1440." vides four gradations o f possible s t ructura l typology ob- served i n that art: the p o i n t g r i d , the f ie ld g r i d , the l i n e g r i d , and the fracture o f the g r i d , corre lat ing to the late medieval , renaissance, m o d e r n , and p o s t m o d e r n periods respec- tively. The first three variations o f the g r i d theory are appl i- cable to the present analysis only by the i r progress ion i n t o the fracture o f the g r i d . The p o i n t g r i d o f the late medieval per iod emphasizes i n - tersections between h o r i z o n t a l a n d vertical axes, often coin- c i d i n g w i t h intersections o f heavenly and earthly r e a l m s . x v The f ie ld g r i d o f Renaissance art features converging per- spective, p r i v i l e g i n g experience reality over perceived d i v i n - i ty a n d sh i f t ing " f r o m appearance to structure , f r o m spi r i - tua l i ty to r a t i o n a l i t y . " x v l The m o d e r n era's l ine g r i d features geometric elements: over lapping bars that do n o t intersect leveled o n planes extending inf ini te ly . The abstract h o m o - geneity o f the l i n e g r i d denies even experienced reality pr iv- ilege i n art. T h u s each progressive shift i n the g r i d is paired w i t h a desire to l iberate visual space. Fo l lowing the same trajectory, the post -modern fracture o f the g r i d — m u c h l ike its analogues i n academia and cul- t u r e — s o u g h t to l iberate visual space f r o m al l established conventions, i n c l u d i n g the g r i d itself. Mary C. Olson ex- plains, The post modern attitude explodes or violates the grid to re- veal the chaos at the atomic level behind the superficially predictable and "defiles the typographic message".... The explosion of the grid reveals a loss of belief in the ability to control, and signals a shift in interest from the creator to the domain of the receiver.™11 The essence o f the p o s t m o d e r n g r i d w i l l be especially rele- vant cons ider ing the attitudes o f the St. John's Bible's pred- ecessors. Successive r e s t r u c t u r i n g o f the visual g r i d con- verted f o r m e r l y passive viewers i n t o active part ic ipants i n images, e m p h a s i z i n g the interact ion between the i n d i v i d - ual's in terpre ta t ion a n d standard interpretat ions . The pre- vious three g r i d theories and the i r corresponding h is tor ica l E L E M E N T S S P R I N G 10 periods accorded the artist considerable contro l over the viewer's in terpreta t ion . Th i s was part icular ly t rue o f the late medieval i l l u m i n a t i o n s that took advantage o f standard iconography a n d schematizat ion. As O l s o n notes, how- ever, " [Postmodern] readings o f graphic space are not con- cerned w i t h contro l , b u t w i t h i n d i v i d u a l in terpreta t ion . " x v i i i By juxtapos ing text and image w i t h i n th is fractured g r i d space, the p o s t m o d e r n art c o m m u n i t y began present ing language as art. Belgrad explains that the goal o f the post- m o d e r n artistic c o m m u n i t y was " to create a ' language' o f p a i n t i n g [that paralleled] the poetic project to restore 'spa- t ia l i ty ' to w r i t i n g . " x i x Some artists i n paral lel w i t h l i terary theorists were in f luenced by deconst ruct ion ism. The am- biguous references and arbitrary regulat ions i n h e r e n t i n language were cr i t ic ized a n d satir ized endlessly i n the post- m o d e r n l i terary c o m m u n i t y . By extension, p o s t m o d e r n artists deconstructed typographic conventions: f rac tur ing the g r i d progressively translated to f rac tur ing the text. Projects l ike Cranbrook Design: The New Discourse destabi- l i zed visual processes associated w i t h reading by t u r n i n g l ingu i s t i c graphemes (e.g. standard letters, n u m b e r s , ideo- graphs) i n t o visually ambiguous elements c o m p o s i n g a larger image. Art i s t s m i x e d fonts, created uneven base- l ines , m e r g e d text i n t o images, d iv ided the text against i t - se l f—anyth ing that w o u l d "call i n t o quest ion t rad i t iona l values o f consistency and order. " x x A c c o r d i n g to Olson , " I n terms o f typography, the const ruct ion o f the graphic space [o f the fractured gr id] subverts its o w n readability, violates its o w n boundaries a n d generally attacks the whole concept o f transparency [of l ingu i s t i c g r a p h e m e s ] . " ™ Fractur ing the textual g r i d gave rise to a cu l ture o f spon- taneity; art organically grew out o f the subjective self, e l i m - i n a t i n g m a n y o f the strictures o f convent ion. A c c o r d i n g to Danie l Belgrad—a histor ica l a n d cu l tura l theorist w h o i n - vestigates the cu l ture o f spontane i ty—"[sub jec t iv i ty sug- gests that there is no u l t i m a t e t r u t h to be arr ived a t — o n l y d i f f e r ing perspectives that can perhaps be synthesized. Th i s is h o w a dialogue is s t r u c t u r e d . , , x x i i H e argues that the p o s t m o d e r n culture—essential ly equivalent to his "cul ture o f spontane i ty "—bui lds c o m m u n i t y n o t o n the basis o f ob- jective standards, b u t o n variable, inter subjective re lat ion- ships between indiv idua l s . Th i s process proceeds by creat- i n g a dialogue between c o m p e t i n g i n d i v i d u a l interpretat ions . A c c o r d i n g to W i l l i a m s o n ' s g r i d theory, this p o s t m o d e r n inter subjectivity should be mani fest i n the v i - sual grids o f p o s t m o d e r n works . St. John's Bible offers a s t u n n i n g example o f the intersubjective visual g r i d at w o r k . C O G N I T I V E H I S T O R I C A L A P P R O A C H T O T H E I L L U M I N A T E D B I B L E T h o u g h a detailed h is tory o f i l l u m i n a t e d bibles is n o t nec- essary, the l o n g lacuna (fifteenth century u n t i l the present day) i n the p r o d u c t i o n o f i l l u m i n a t e d bibles is noteworthy. The St. John's Bible is one o f the only i l l u m i n a t e d bibles produced since Johannes Gutenberg developed the p r i n t - i n g press i n 1440; evidently, the i n v e n t i o n o f the p r i n t i n g press catalyzed a re ject ion o f m a n u s c r i p t cu l ture and an es- pousal o f p r i n t cu l ture . M a n u s c r i p t cul ture was based o n a c o m m u n i t y o f scribes govern ing the l i terary c o m m u n i t y t h r o u g h the i r produc- t i o n o f texts. Th i s m o r e personal t ransmiss ion o f texts mani fest ly in f luenced the presentat ion and subsequent cognitive processing o f manuscr ipts . The rise o f p r i n t cul- ture a n d the u n i f o r m , mechanica l t ransmiss ion o f texts re- m o v e d that h u m a n inf luence , part icular ly o n l ingu i s t i c graphemes. P r i n t cu l ture subsequently developed a cogni- tive bl indness to the graphic nature o f the graphemes com- pos ing p r i n t e d words . This is w h a t M a r y O l s o n calls the "transparency" o f t e x t — w h e n text is no longer image b u t w o r d . The m a n u s c r i p t cu l ture was m o r e acutely aware o f the aes- thetic o f p r i n t e d words . Olson suggests that the m a n u - script cu l ture was "less concerned t h a n ours is w i t h the transparency o f w r i t i n g . . . . But m a n y early m a n u - scripts . . . employ these devices [large in i t ia l s , rubr ics , glosses, or i l lustrat ions] w h i c h d i s rupt transparency partic- u lar ly at points o f d i v i s i o n . " ™ " Curiously , m o s t o f the medieval audience o f i l l u m i n a t e d bibles was i l l i terate , a n d I L L U M I N A T I N G A C U L T U R E , A H I S T O R Y , A T R A D I T I O N for th is m a j o r i t y the graphic nature o f w r i t i n g and the i l l u - m i n a t i o n s were the only p o i n t o f entry i n t o the content. T h u s , the aesthetic o f l ingu i s t i c graphemes was crucial i n medieval i l l u m i n a t e d bibles. A m i d s t a remarkable variety, r igorous o r n a m e n t a t i o n stands out as a c o m m o n element o f al l medieval i l l u m i - nated bibles. O l s o n wri tes , "The style reflects a love o f pat- t e r n and surface texture. A c c o r d i n g to W i l s o n , ' I t also re- veals that horror vacui w h i c h is so obvious an e lement o f the Germanic art o f the post-Roman per iod . No space can be left u n o r n a m e n t e d . " , x x l v W i t h i n that o r n a m e n t a t i o n , a con- scious use o f standard iconography a n d schematizat ion is evident. W h i l e iconography and schematizat ion are rela- tively consistent i n medieval i l l u m i n a t e d bibles, the St. John's Bible diverges s ignif icantly f r o m these standards. I n order to unders tand th is divergence, i t is necessary to exam- ine brief ly the standard medieval iconography and schema- t iza t ion . Iconography a n d schematizat ion greatly aided i n the visual t ransmiss ion o f doctr ine f r o m artist to viewer. T h o u g h s imilar , iconography and schematizat ion differ i n the i r cul- t u r a l d o m a i n . Schematizat ion creates classes o f people, ob- jects, a n d so f o r t h according to c u r r e n t c u l t u r a l biases i n representation. For example, i l l u m i n a t i o n s o f groups o f people e l iminate idiosyncrasies i n favor o f visually estab- l i s h i n g a collective ident i ty by the r e p r o d u c t i o n o f some prototypical e lement o f that g roup . A group o f angels m i g h t all f ly w i t h wings splayed, knees bent , square shoul- ders, and l i g h t f l o w i n g locks, b u t w i l l n o t be ind iv idua l l y identi f iable unless demanded by the narrative. St. Michae l the Archange l , for instance, m i g h t be out f i t ted w i t h a f l am- i n g sword. Th i s is where iconography fits i n , d i s t ingu i sh- i n g i m p o r t a n t figures f r o m schema by i n c l u d i n g easily identi f iable visual elements. Olson suggests that iconogra- p h y "looks at ways a type is consistent across the spec t rum o f t imes and cultures; for example, St. Peter is always de- picted w i t h keys, a k i n g w i t h a c r o w n . " x x v H o w do these two techniques o f representat ion affect the in terpre ta t ion o f these i l l u m i n a t e d bibles? I n a m a n u s c r i p t cu l ture , scribes painstakingly copied texts stroke by stroke. O n a practical level, standard iconography and schematizat ion offered scribes a guide for accurate t rans lat ion o f the content. Standard iconography and schematizat ion also standardized t ransmiss ion o f doctr ine to the audience. John W i l l i a m s wri tes , " I n a h i s tory in fatu- ated w i t h the archetype, the artist tends to r e m a i n a passive agent o f descent and is se ldom granted the role o f creative respondent to expectations that go beyond mere replica- t i o n . " ^ 1 The astute viewer is also relegated to a passive role: "The role o f the viewer is to situate her- or h i m s e l f w i t h i n an established, cu l tura l ly const i tuted edifice o f m e a n i n g and be ing where schematic codif icat ion encour- ages social adhesion a m o n g its m e m b e r s . " ^ 1 1 Both the medieval artist and the medieval viewer were subject to standard visual representations and interpretat ions . A N D T H E W O R D B E C A M E F L E S H : T H E S T . J O H N ' S B I B L E P o s t m o d e r n i s m dramatical ly influences the art o f the St. John's Bible. The cu l ture o f spontaneity, discussed earlier, drives the aesthetic. I l l u m i n a t i o n s , l ike the one f o u n d i n " M a t t h e w 24: The Last Judgment" br ist le w i t h d y n a m i c en- ergy. The frontispiece for the Gospel o f John, i l l u m i n a t i n g John 1:1-14 (" . . . and the W o r d become flesh and l ived a m o n g us . . . " ) , is characterized by layered geometric pat- t e r n i n g , sporadic patches o f color, i n f i n i t e extension o f space, images crossing borders, text m e r g i n g w i t h image, and l ingu is t i c graphemes los ing transparency. These char- acteristics are h i g h l y indicat ive o f the p o s t m o d e r n g r i d frac- ture . These p o s t m o d e r n i l l u m i n a t i o n s exert a clear inf luence o n the viewer's c o g n i t i o n o f the b ib l ica l content . Psycholinguist ic models o f m i n d — l i k e the connect ionist m o d e l or the cohort m o d e l — c a n help clarify th is inf luence . Priming—a cognitive process i n w h i c h a p r i m i n g s t i m u l u s is used to prepare and direct the subject's response to a tar- get s t i m u l u s x x v m The St. John's Bible i l l u m i n a t i o n s were developed such that the relevant text w o u l d p r i m e the E L E M E N T S : : S P R I N G 10 T H E F R O N T I S P I E C E T O T H E G O S P E L O F J O H N I N T H E ST. J O H N 's Bl B L E . ELEMENTS OF HE ST. J O H N S BIBLE I L L U M I N A T I O N S H A D M O D HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. I.otmd with r W cImW 3 1 TI'CV Utters jtiAciX 4 ruynt of the brother* chimin* here b f u a m m h i n ^ e v i l a K i u t -DAY INSPIRATIONS, I N C L U D I N G IMAGES FROM THE viewer for the image, i n v o l v i n g the viewer by catalyzing viewer-specific representational expectations a n d viewer- specific f u l f i l l m e n t and f rus t ra t ion o f those expectations. T h o u g h creators o f the St. John's Bible do n o t call th is " p r i m i n g , " the i r practice o f lectio divina, developing i n t o visio divina, relies o n the same pr inc ip les . I t is c o m m o n practice for Benedict ine m o n k s to take part i n lectio divina, a m e d i t a t i o n o n devotional and b ib l ica l texts i n w h i c h a smal l p o r t i o n is reiterated a n d contemplated for a l o n g per iod . C o m m i s s i o n e d by the Benedictine order, the St. John's Bible was constructed a i m i n g to facilitate lectio divina. The C o m m i t t e e o n I l l u m i n a t i o n and Text ( C I T ) — the group o f b ib l ica l scholars f r o m the St. John's c o m m u - n i t y charged w i t h m a t c h i n g text to i l l u m i n a t i o n s — c o m - m i s s i o n e d i l l u m i n a t i o n s based o n notes taken after extensive practice o f lectio divina. Ar t i s t i c director D o n a l d Jackson t h e n created o r i g i n a l drawings i n c o r p o r a t i n g n o t only the meditat ive notes, b u t h is o w n aesthetic as w e l l . The St. John's Bible i l l u m i n a t i o n s were created by a process a i m i n g to engender variety o f in terpre ta t ion a n d a concur- rent sense o f viewer creativity absent f r o m medieval i l l u m i - nat ions. Th i s n e w process o f i l l u m i n a t i o n const ruct ion based i n lectio divina was n a m e d visio divina. The Benedict ine act o f visio divina separates the St. John's Bible f r o m its medieval Catholic t r a d i t i o n , c o m p l i c a t i n g the cognitive b l e n d o f the St. John's Bible (as target) and its me- dieval counterparts (as source). Whereas the medieval artist and the viewer were subjected to a collective m a c h i n e o f re l ig ious dogma, the m o d e r n artist a n d viewer had con- t r o l over the in terpre ta t ion o f ancient b ib l ica l texts. The d i - vergent m o t i v a t i o n s — t h e source's m o t i v a t i o n as ideologi- cal i m p o s i t i o n , the target's m o t i v a t i o n as theological m e d i t a t i o n — p r o d u c t i v e l y b l e n d to create a p o s t m o d e r n aesthetic for an ancient subject. W h e r e iconography a n d schematizat ion were used previ- ously to standardize in terpre ta t ion w i t h i n the rel ig ious c o m m u n i t y , the St. John's Bible employs a taxonomic sys- t e m to inv i te subjectivity where i t was discouraged. For ex- ample , i n the frontispiece o f the Gospel o f John, Jesus can- not be ident i f ied except by abstract inference. A m o r p h o u s masses o f gold are etched i n t o a general body-l ike f o r m at- tached to a haloed head bear ing a featureless face. Moreover, th is featureless golden Jesus appears variously i n the Gospels and Acts (e.g. M a t t h e w 16 or M a r k 9) . John's gospel certainly prefigures a representation o f Jesus p r i o r to object or d i m e n s i o n a l space , x x l x b u t medieval iconogra- p h y — i n d e e d , medieval a r t — c o u l d n o t have accommo- dated such a p icture . Postmodernism's fractured g r i d , E L E M E N T S S P R I N G 10 however, can capture concepts at " the border o f a myster i - ous, often n o n m a t e r i a l d i m e n s i o n " x x x w i t h relative ease. W h i l e some standard iconography is preserved (e.g. cross w i t h i n a halo or gold as d iv in i ty) i t is clear that the St. John's Bible has created a new, p o s t m o d e r n iconography based o n abstract, subjectively malleable visual elements. Th i s Jesus o f abstract features a n d colors constitutes a novel visual ident i ty for " . . . the L ight o f all people. The l i g h t shines i n the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome i t . " 5 0 ™ Schematizat ion receives a s imi la r p o s t m o d e r n update. Divis ions o f the p o i n t g r i d separated d iv ine space f r o m earthly space i n medieval schematizat ion. For the medieval m i n d space generally i n the upper p o r t i o n o f an image was reserved for the sky, clouds, stars, a n d other heavenly bod- ies; earthly space, l ikewise, was depicted i n the lower por- t i o n . The twenty-f irst century m i n d , however, has a radi- cally di f ferent concept ion o f the extent and contents o f that upper space. The p o s t m o d e r n schematizat ion i n the St. John's Bible greatly deemphasizes the earthly r e a l m n o t on ly to accommodate current cu l tura l attitudes about ex- pansive u p w a r d realms, b u t to call a t tent ion to t h e m a n d make t h e m the focus o f c o n t e m p l a t i o n . A representative example w o u l d be the i n c o r p o r a t i o n o f images f r o m the H u b b l e Space telescope i n t o i l l u m i n a t i o n s depic t ing the d iv ine r e a l m . ™ 5 " 1 1 V o l u m e six o f the Saint John's Bible (the Gospels and Acts) po ignant ly concludes p a i r i n g the i l l u m i - n a t i o n o n the preceding p a g e x x x l v w i t h the exhortat ion to be witnesses to Chr is t " to the ends o f the e a r t h . " 5 0 0 ^ Once again, the fractured g r i d allows the schema i t se l f to i n f l u - ence the viewer i n innovative ways. T h u s far i n m y discussion o f the St. John's Bible, I have only spoken to the i l l u m i n a t i o n s conta ined there in . N o w I w i l l address the i r in teract ion w i t h the text, for as Olson writes , "Language is n o t just read, decoded, b u t also seen, the body is involved i n an interactive process w i t h the environ- m e n t . " 5 0 0 ™ Just as w i t h its medieval predecessors, the text o f the Saint John's Bible is h a n d w r i t t e n x x x v n and can be v iewed as stra ight- forward l ingu i s t i c graphemes, as cap- t i o n , and as an image u n t o itself. Given m y focus o n the reader as viewer, text as image is m o s t i n t r i g u i n g and is complexly enr iched by its cohesive re lat ionship w i t h the i l - l u m i n a t i o n s . The frontispiece for John's Gospel, an i l l u m i n a t i o n o f " the W o r d became f lesh," incorporates Colossians i : i 5 - 2 0 . x x x v m Just as w i t h iconography and schematizat ion, the i l l u m i n a - tors defy standard typography and exhaustively subvert the text's transparency. For example, according to M a r y Olson's research, leading (space between the l ines o f type) increases readership by 12 percent . 5 0 ™ 5 ' The hand (calligra- pher 's j a rgon for " font" ) i n the i l l u m i n a t i o n , however, en- croaches u p o n lead space w i t h graceful descenders (the part o f a letter w h i c h hangs below the baseline) disorient- i n g a reader accustomed to conventions o f the p r i n t cul ture . Moreover, the text merges w i t h the image o f Chr is t , draw- i n g the reader i n t o th is n e w typographic image space. Interestingly, after al l this transgressing o f conventions, the experience o f a contemporary viewer before this i l l u m i n a - t i o n approaches that o f the average medieval viewer before text he cou ld n o t discern except by its graphic quality. The text i n this image appears i n gold w i t h a black under- script a n d accordingly has a dua l nature . The golden words echo the color o f Chr is t , b u t echo also Christ ' s departure f r o m iconographic standards i n the i r departure f r o m anal- ogous standards. The viewer blends f o r m (image) and sig- n i f i ca t ion (word) together: i n a real sense the " w o r d is made f lesh," extending f r o m and fa l l ing i n t o the Christ . I n con- trast, the black underscr ipt does n o t confine i t se l f to its go ld counterpart , extending, c u r l i n g , and fa l l ing o f f to h i n t at Christ ' s facial features. Just as the p o s t m o d e r n Chr is t i c o n demands that the viewer supply Christ 's features, the black script visually outl ines the process d i rec t ing viewers to the task at h a n d . I n th is way, the viewer is p r i m e d for contem- p l a t i o n n o t on ly by p o s t m o d e r n iconography and schemati- zat ion, b u t also by the script itself. E F F E C T S O F T E X T - I M A G E I N T E G R A T I O N W h i l e in tegra t ing images i n t o b ib l ica l text can i l l u m i n a t e d i f f i cu l t scr ipture, i t can create tensions. W h e n i l l u m i - I L L U M I N A T I N G A C U L T U R E , A H I S T O R Y , A T R A D I T I O N nated bibles gained currency i n the f i f th century, m a n y con- temporary scholars cr i t ic ized the ostentatious presentat ion o f self-effacing teachings: Saint Jerome . . . whose translation of the biblical books was to become more or less the standard one for the Latin Church, felt it necessary to condemn what he considered ex- travagant attention to the decoration of Scripture: "Parchments are dyed purple, gold is melted into lettering, manuscripts are decked with jewels, while Christ lies at the door naked and dying. "xl Despite protests l ike St. Jerome's, i l l u m i n a t e d bibles con- t i n u e d to be popular u n t i l the i n v e n t i o n o f the p r i n t i n g press. Th i s "efficient re ject ion" was succeeded by a fierce ideological campaign against i l l u m i n a t e d Bibles i n the six- teenth century, w h e n Luther and other Protestant r e f o r m - ers echoed the sent iments o f Saint Jerome. They stressed the dangers o f a t tachment to devotional aides l ike icons, i l - l u m i n a t e d Bibles, stained-glass w i n d o w s , and so f o r t h , w h i c h cou ld easily s l ip i n t o idolatry i f these images were m i s t a k e n for the i r subjects. As an example: the loss of confidence in the transubstantiation of the host as evidence of the Incarnation [the Word made flesh]. Analogous and equally serious is the loss of confidence in the visual image, especially in the icons... both feeling the sus- picion that sense knowledge can no longer provide satisfac- tion A T h e or ig ins o f the Protestant att i tude t o w a r d i l l u m i n a t e d bibles are s ignif icant because our nation's re l ig ious foun- dations are Protestant , x l i l evidenced often e n o u g h today: "Protestant ism helped define the n a t i o n , operat ing as si- mul taneous ly the happy enabler a n d the u n h a p p y con- science o f the A m e r i c a n repub l i c—a single source for b o t h nat iona l comfor t and nat iona l u n e a s e . " x l m Protestants gave A m e r i c a f reedom o f re l ig ion ; some current c o m m u n i c a - t ions theorists suggest that rel igious inf luence plays a s trong role i n media censorship even today. O l s o n claims that the his tory o f iconoclastic controversy a n d "even the de- sire to establish boundaries between w o r d and image cate- gories suggest a deep-seated fear o f images. Th i s fear . . . results f r o m the be l ie f that images can become what they r e p r e s e n t . " x l i v The St. John's Bible, therefore, cannot be isolated f r o m the broad cu l tura l context i n w h i c h i t appears. The St. John's Bible can be contextual ized o n three separate levels: the macro-histor ical , the micro-his tor ica l , and the cu l tura l . O n the macro-histor ical level, the Saint John's Bible rises out o f the centuries o f Catholic h is tory and the t r a d i t i o n o f medieval i l l u m i n a t e d manuscr ipts . Micro-his- torically, i t was conceived i n a n a t i o n founded o n Protestant idea l s . x l v Finally, the p o s t m o d e r n , media-soaked cu l ture o f our w o r l d has created a u n i q u e l y visuo-centric m o d e r n au- dience. As Brother D i e t r i c h Reinhart, OSB—pres ident o f St. John's Univers i ty—recent ly said: "If it was an anachronism, I wasn't interested," he [Brother Dietrich] said. He wasn't going to live in the past. . . . "It wouldn't work if it was cliched or if it was some project out there in cuckoo land. No. It had to be great art. It had to be about the real world today. It had to resonate with Catholic tradition but not in a dogmatic way. It had to con- nect to the curriculum. '^V1 The St. John's Bible f r o m its incept ion has a i m e d to b l e n d these disparate sub-cultures: "great art , " the "real w o r l d today," and "Catholic t r a d i t i o n . " The tensions o f any cross-modal presentat ion present themselves i n th is ambi t ious b l e n d i n g exercise. Some w i l l cr it ic ize ostentatious visual displays b o t h as distractions f r o m text and as an i m p e d i m e n t to proper in terpreta t ion . Inevitably some w i l l reject certain i l l u m i n a t i o n s because the text p r i m e s t h e m for di f ferent images that cannot be reconciled. Tradit ionalists f r o m an artistic perspective may reject the s tart l ing p o s t m o d e r n aesthetic o f the Saint John's Bible, pre fer r ing bibles that m a i n t a i n some sense o f "his- tor ical d e c o r u m " — t h a t is, adherence to conventions. A project in tegra t ing aural and visual sensory experiences, constantly asks "whether we learn dif ferent th ings by hear- E L E M E N T S S P R I N G 10 "... this new synthesis preserves the ... Christian message, while generating an iconography, schematization, and typography consistent with a postmodern aesthetic." i n g a story t h a n by seeing a n d by t o u c h i n g . W h a t k i n d o f l e a r n i n g is sures t ? " x l v i l T h e conceptual b l e n d i n g i n the St. John's Bible tolerates and even encourages m o m e n t s i n w h i c h the target and the source conf l ict w i t h or relate ambiguous ly to one another. No doubt the medieval and the p o s t m o d e r n periods are typ- ically n o t paired. I n other words , "Composition a n d comple- tion [the f irst two steps i n conceptual b l e n d i n g theory] often draw together conceptual structures previously kept apart. " x l v m Turner cont inues , "As a consequence, the b l e n d can reveal latent contradict ions and coherences between previously separated elements. I t can show us problems and lacunae i n what we had previously taken for granted." General acceptance o f the St. John's Bible and its u n i q u e cognit ive b l e n d hangs o n the f o l l o w i n g questions: W i l l emergent contradict ions o v e r w h e l m emergent ins ights for the audience at large? I f the answer is yes, t h e n this a m b i - t ious project w i l l fai l ; i f the answer is no , the St. John's Bible w i l l ga in currency and could inspire new interest i n this an- cient b ib l ica l mode . St i l l , the u n i q u e histor ica l and cu l tura l dialogue occur r ing i n the text and i l l u m i n a t i o n s o f the St. John's Bible yields a n e w synthesis regardless o f its success or fai lure. As Brother D i e t r i c h says: But the thing is, we're guys. We're living a middle-class lifestyle. We're part of a mainline tradition. So we don'tlike to wear our faith on our sleeves. We need props. We need vestments and an altar to say sacred words. . . . We need roles to allow people to open up and ask advice. But when you look at the discussions which take place around the St. John's Bible, people allow themselves to say they were moved. People who aren't ordained find themselves talking about Christ. Very practical, down-to-earth people ask 'What about religious art?'. . . The Saint John's Bible is a celebration of the non-linear.^ The explicit and i m m i n e n t presence o f p o s t m o d e r n inter- subjectivity i n the St. John's Bible encourages personal i n - terpretat ion o f texts i n innovat ive and cul tura l ly conscious ways. 1 Supported by the textual analysis above, th is n e w synthesis preserves the m e d i u m and the Chr i s t i an mes- sage, w h i l e generat ing an iconography, schematizat ion, and typography consistent w i t h a p o s t m o d e r n aesthetic. The resultant intersubject iv i ty is i n m a n y ways i r o n i c f r o m a Catholic perspective, for i t encourages the Protestant con- cept o f personal revelation a n d i n d i v i d u a l in te rpre ta t ion o f scr ipture. Th i s was a project that began w i t h the determi- nacy to b u i l d a br idge u n i t i n g t w o divergent t i m e periods, two divergent cultures , two divergent t rad i t ions . W h a t re- m a i n s , never present before i n either o f the two o r i g i n a l el- ements o f the b lend , is a synthesis o f i n t e r c u l t u r a l and i n - terrel ig ious dialogue. I t was a t rue project o f m a t e r i a l i z i n g the cognitive b l e n d . E N D N O T E S i . Crane (123) i i . Turner 1998 h i . Turner 1996 iv. Olson 2003 v. Williamson 1989 vi . Turner 1998 v i i . These cognitive spaces need not correspond to specific neu- roanatomical spaces. v i i i . For more information on the modularity o f the m i n d , see Ellen Spolsky's Gaps in Nature: Literary Interpretation and the Modular Mind. Albany: State University of New York Press (1993), p. 19-41, i n which she writes a thorough analysis. ix. Grady 1999 x. Turner 1996 (57-84) I L L U M I N A T I N G A C U L T U R E , A H I S T O R Y , A T R A D I T I O N xi. Grady (2) xi i . Grady (3) x i i i . Grady (4) xiv. Williamson (171) xv. Olson (25) xvi. Ibid. xvii. Ibid. xviii . Grady (25-26) xix. Belgrad (81) xx. Olson (26) xxi. Ibid. xxii. Belgrad (111) xxiii . Olson (31) xxiv. Olson (40). Cites Wilson, David. Anglo-Saxon Art. Woodstock, NY: Overlook (1984). xxv. Olson (xxi) xxvi. Williams (5) xxvii. Olson (46) xxviii. Reeves 1998 xxix. John 1:10: "Al l things came into being through H i m , and without H i m not one thing came into being," and, "He was i n the world, and the world came into being through h i m . . . " xxx. Williamson (182) xxxi. John 1: 4-5 xxxii. Sink (90) xxxiii. Also interesting i n this particular modernization is the presentation o f science as part of religion, a concept the Catholic Church has only recently accepted, though wi th eager- ness. xxxiv. HubbleSite: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/galaxy/spiral/ pr i994002c/ . xxxv. Acts 28 xxxvi. Olson (7) xxxvii. Mass copies are bound books o f digital photographs of the original manuscript. xxxviii. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for i n h i m all things i n heaven and on earth were cre- ated, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through h i m and for h i m . He himself is before all things and i n h i m all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place i n everything. For i n h i m all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through h i m God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or i n heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross." xxxix. Olson (24) xl. Williams (2) xl i . Spolsky (16) x l i i . Bottum xl i i i . Ibid. xliv. Olson (18) xlv. Growing up i n central Minnesota, the influence o f Protestant ideals on Catholicism is striking to me, especially i n our stark, unadorned modern churches. xlvi. Calderhead (27) xlvii. Spolsky (29) xlvi i i . Turner (84) xlix. Calderhead (27) 1. Ironically, this might make the essence of the text more Protestant than Catholic. R E F E R E N C E S Belgrad, Daniel. The Culture of Spontaneity: Improvisation and the Arts in Postwar America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press (1998). Bottum, Joseph. "The Death of Protestant America: A Political Theory of Protestant Mainline." First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life (August/September 2008). http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6254. Crane, Mary Thomas and Alan Richardson. "Literary Studies and Cognitive Science: Toward a New Interdisciplinarity." Mosaic 32.2 (June 1999). Grady, Joseph E., Todd Oakley, and Seana Coulson. "Blending and Metaphor." Metaphor in cognitive linguistics. Eds. G. Steen and R. Gibbs. Philadelphia: John Benjamins (1999). http: / / cogweb.ucla.edu / Cog S ci/ Grady_9 9 .html . Olson, Mary C. Fair and Varied Forms: Visual Textuality in Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts. Ed. Francis G. Gentry. Studies in Medieval History and Culture, a Routledge Series. New York: Routledge (2003). Reeves, Lauretta et. al. "Words and Meaning: From Primitives to Complex Organization." Psycholinguistics. Eds. Jean Berko Gleason and Nan Bernstein Ratner. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers (1998). 157-226. Turner, Mark. The Literary Mind. New York: Oxford University Press (1996). Turner, Mark and Gilles Fauconnier. "Conceptual Integration Networks." Cognitive Science 22.2 (1998): 133-187. Williams, John. "Introduction." Imaging the Early Medieval Bible. Ed. John Williams. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press (1999). Williamson, Jack. "The Grid: History, Use and Meanings." 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