A work · 1438 · Medieval
The Book of My First Showings
A short prose book dictated by Margery Kempe describing her experiences of Christ's love, her suffering, and her certainty that she had been chosen.
The first person in this catalogue to write the thing down and then hand the book to other people. That second half is the part that makes it parasocial rather than merely devotional: the text is an instrument for producing the bond in somebody else.
Application. One-sided attachment put to work on purpose. Creator economies, community, fandom as infrastructure, and the things that genuinely help people. Not automatically good - a tool with an obvious use is a tool that will also get a bad one.
Where it sits
1000 1000-1499 · 1438 1499
Provenance · 1 source record(s)
- needs-sourceComposed c.1438, surviving in one manuscript.See the EETS edition cited under margery-kempe.
Connected · 1 out, 1 in
It sits in