ABSTRACT

Through a close reading of the staging of miracles in the Middle English Chester cycle, this article argues for a reappraisal of the religious didacticism of the medieval mystery cycle tradition. By approaching the Chester cycle’s didactic impetus from the lens of medieval miracle theory, I argue for distinct theoretical parallels between the Thomist formulation of wonder and learning and modern cognitive dissonance theory. The interplay between wonder and dissonance throughout Chester’s miracle episodes reveals how the cycle’s staging of miracles functions to teach spectators not only orthodox doctrine but also a method of learning. Ultimately, Chester’s religious didacticism is rendered efficacious through the sophisticated cognitive interplay between learning and performance, one that medieval thought articulated nearly 700 years prior to recent developments in cognitive theory.

摘要

通过仔细阅读中世纪英国切斯特循环中奇迹的上演，本文主张重新评估中世纪神秘循环传统的宗教说教。通过从中世纪奇迹理论的角度接近切斯特循环的教学动力，我认为托马斯主义的奇迹和学习表述与现代认知失调理论之间存在明显的理论相似之处。在切斯特的奇迹剧集中，奇迹与不和谐之间的相互作用揭示了奇迹的循环阶段如何发挥作用，不仅可以向观众传授正统教义，还可以教授一种学习方法。最终，切斯特的宗教说教通过学习和表现之间复杂的认知相互作用变得有效，