Introduction

This introduction situates the essays in this volume within pre-existing discourses on mysticism, both perennialist and constructivist, and shows how they at once build on and deviate from previous approaches. It then addresses the difficulties and advantages of using the Christian term “mysticism” in the context of Hinduism and Islam. Further, this opening chapter foregrounds the ways in which gender intersects with mysticism and shows how medieval women from a wide range of traditions deployed mysticism as a vehicle to claim spiritual authority. Overall, the introduction suggests that this collection of essays serves not to form a singular notion of gender and mysticism but rather, using a methodology of what Eve Sedgewick calls “beside,” forges conversations across differences that at once highlight the specificities of particular traditions and open up new fields of comparative inquiry.