Julian of Norwich in Popular Fiction

Abstract

Although the physical presence of Julian of Norwich may now be felt, or experienced, secondhand through visiting the reconstructed Cell at St. Julian’s Church or the recently dedicated statue of Julian at Norwich Cathedral, there is little left of Julian herself except her text and the ideas it has generated since it was produced. Even without any physical artifacts, however, Julian of Norwich remains a unique figure both in Norwich and in larger academic and popular circles. Sarah Salih argues that “almost alone amongst such figures, she has a present-day public profile beyond the academy of professional medievalists and theologians. Julian, in fact, currently enjoys what medievalists will recognise as a cult. Like a medieval cult, it adapts and supplements its core materials, in this case A Revelation, in order to construct a figure who can address changing circumstances.”¹ Her presence has spread beyond the confines of Julian of Norwich gift shop items (statues of Julian and her cat, for example, are available in a U.S. “art” catalogue) and devotional works into popular fiction and, by informing the larger concept of the medieval anchoress, onto the stage and screen.² In this chapter I will discuss several novels written since the mid-twentieth century that include Julian of Norwich as a character. Although many aspects of Julian are addressed by the fictional accounts, I will discuss three main issues: the representation of Julian’s biography and anchoritic life; the representation of medieval female and vernacular authorship; and the transformation of her theological ideas, particularly her concepts of Jesus as mother, the hazelnut, and the images of the blood and the bleeding of Christ, into narrative fiction.

This chapter compares fictive with scholarly representations of Julian, focusing on anchoritism, literacy, and themes from Julian’s writing.