Abstract

RAATH, Andries W.G.. Tropologiese Hoogliedmetafore en vroulike mistieke piëtisme in Suid-Afrikaanse pioniergemeenskappe, 1760-1860. Herv. teol. stud. [online]. 2016, vol.72, n.3, pp.1-11. ISSN 2072-8050.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i3.3355.

The ego-focus of pioneer women on the South African frontier, 1760-1860, reflects distinct traits of mystical spirituality. The pioneer spirituality of women on the borders increasingly came to expression in ego-texts with experiential inclinations. The leaning towards Jesus-centred mystical spirituality developed parallel to pietistic tendencies in Holland and Germany, and allegorical and tropological applications of the bridal metaphors in the Song of Songs formed a distinct element of female pietism on the frontier. Women believers in the interior favoured tropological applications of bridal metaphors in the Song of Songs. The popularity of such tropological applications can firstly be attributed to the physical conditions under which pioneer women found themselves. Secondly, the availability of German pietistic works contributed towards the religious culture of mystical and individualistic readings of bridal metaphors in the Song of Songs. Tropological readings of the Song of Songs' bridal metaphors are traced to the theology of Bernard of Clairvaux particularly and other pre-reformational mystical sources.

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