‘Joining into God's breath’: travail of the negative as a connection between mysticism and political activism
The Heythrop Journal May 16, 2023 Edda Wolff 2 citations
Negativity—gaps, failures, and limits—offers a powerful lens for studying mysticism. This essay argues that a negative hermeneutics, centered on the continuous 'unsaying' and 'subverting' of traditional faith expressions, illuminates the dynamics of mystical practice and theology. The concept of travail of the negative connects practical and theoretical negativity in mystical texts. This approach encourages theology to take negation seriously as a fundamental feature, contributing to broader theological discourse by reframing how mystical experiences are interpreted.