In Performance, Cognitive Theory, and Devotional Culture, Jill Stevenson uses cognitive theory to explore the layperson s physical encounter with live religious performances, and to argue that laypeople s interactions with other devotional media - such as books and art objects - may also have functioned like performance events. By revealing the remarkable resonance between cognitive science and medieval visual theories, Stevenson demonstrates how understanding medieval culture can enrich the study of performance generally. She concludes by applying her theories of medieval performance culture to contemporary religious forms, including creationist museums, Hell Houses, and megachurches.

Introduction: Devotional Modes of Becoming in Late Medieval York Performance Literacy: Theorizing Medieval Devotional Seeing Material Devotion: Objects as Performance Events Claiming Devotional Space Devotion and Conceptual Blending Pious Body Rhythms Empathy, Entrainment, and Devotional Instability Coda: Medieval Sensual Piety and A Few Twenty-first-Century Religious Rhythms