The Practice of Meditation in Hugh of Saint-Victor’s Didascalicon

What is it about?

The present article provides a novel rhetorical analysis of Hugh’s conception of the practice of meditation as he describes it in his most celebrated, influential, and widely read composition, that is, the Didascalicon de studio legendi. In order to examine that practice, it draws together, from a rhetorical perspective, the main features of Hugh’s pedagogy as explained in the Didascalicon, namely, the ultimate goal of human learning, the practice of textual study (lectio), and the different functions of memory in our intellectual lives. In this way, and in opposition to other construals, it attempts to explain Hugh’s notion of meditation in terms directly rooted in the Didascalicon.

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Why is it important?

The article argues for a new understanding of Hugonian meditation that makes a radical departure from previous readings. It also sets meditation in its Christian pedagogical context alongside other practices that, for Hugh, support meditation and are strengthened by it. Furthermore, the article highlights certain key assumptions in the Didascalicon that contrast with modern views on the pursuit of scientific knowledge, the formation of students, and human life as a whole.