The Erotic in the Literature of Medieval Britain

The Erotic in the Literature of Medieval Britain
Author: Amanda Hopkins
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2007
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1843841193

Download The Erotic in the Literature of Medieval Britain Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

An examination of the erotic in medieval literature which includes articles on the role of clothing and nudity, the tension between eroticism and transgression and religion and the erotic.

Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain

Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain
Author: Amanda Hopkins
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2014
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 184384379X

Download Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

An examination into aspects of the sexual as depicted in a variety of medieval texts, from Chaucer and Malory to romance and alchemical treatises.

Obscene Pedagogies

Obscene Pedagogies
Author: Carissa M. Harris
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2018-12-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1501730428

Download Obscene Pedagogies Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In Obscene Pedagogies, Carissa M. Harris investigates the relationship between obscenity, gender, and pedagogy in Middle English and Middle Scots literary texts from 1300 to 1580 to show how sexually explicit and defiantly vulgar speech taught readers and listeners about sexual behavior and consent. Through innovative close readings of literary texts including erotic lyrics, single-woman's songs, debate poems between men and women, Scottish insult poetry battles, and The Canterbury Tales, Harris demonstrates how through its transgressive charge and galvanizing shock value, obscenity taught audiences about gender, sex, pleasure, and power in ways both positive and harmful. Harris's own voice, proudly witty and sharply polemical, inspires the reader to address these medieval texts with an eye on contemporary issues of gender, violence, and misogyny.

Sodomy, Masculinity and Law in Medieval Literature

Sodomy, Masculinity and Law in Medieval Literature
Author: William E. Burgwinkle
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2004-07-08
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1139454765

Download Sodomy, Masculinity and Law in Medieval Literature Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

William Burgwinkle surveys poetry and letters, histories and literary fiction - including Grail romances - to offer a historical survey of attitudes towards same-sex love during the centuries that gave us the Plantagenet court of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, courtly love, and Arthurian lore. Burgwinkle illustrates how 'sodomy' becomes a problematic feature of narratives of romance and knighthood. Most texts of the period denounce sodomy and use accusations of sodomitical practice as a way of maintaining a sacrificial climate in which masculine identity is set in opposition to the stigmatised other, for example the foreign, the feminine, and the heretical. What emerges from these readings, however, is that even the most homophobic, masculinist and normative texts of the period demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to separate the sodomitical from the orthodox. These blurred boundaries allow readers to glimpse alternative, even homoerotic, readings.

Erotic Discourse and Early English Religious Writing

Erotic Discourse and Early English Religious Writing
Author: L. Farina
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2016-04-30
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1137049316

Download Erotic Discourse and Early English Religious Writing Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Erotic Discourse and Early English Religious Writing discusses the role of sexuality in medieval devotional practice, looking in particular at religious writings circulating in England in the tenth to thirteenth centuries.

The Fires of Lust

The Fires of Lust
Author: Katherine Harvey
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2022-11-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789144884

Download The Fires of Lust Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

An illuminating exploration of the surprisingly familiar sex lives of ordinary medieval people. The medieval humoral system of medicine suggested that it was possible to die from having too much—or too little—sex, while the Roman Catholic Church taught that virginity was the ideal state. Holy men and women committed themselves to lifelong abstinence in the name of religion. Everyone was forced to conform to restrictive rules about who they could have sex with, in what way, how often, and even when, and could be harshly punished for getting it wrong. Other experiences are more familiar. Like us, medieval people faced challenges in finding a suitable partner or trying to get pregnant (or trying not to). They also struggled with many of the same social issues, such as whether prostitution should be legalized. Above all, they shared our fondness for dirty jokes and erotic images. By exploring their sex lives, the book brings ordinary medieval people to life and reveals details of their most personal thoughts and experiences. Ultimately, it provides us with an important and intimate connection to the past.

Medieval Virginities

Medieval Virginities
Author: Ruth Evans
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780802086372

Download Medieval Virginities Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The variety of subjects and disciplines represented here testify both to the elusiveness of virginity and to its lasting appeal and importance. Medieval Virginities shows how virginity's inherent ambiguity highlights the problems, contradictions and discontinuities lurking within medieval ideologies.

The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 4 Volume Set

The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 4 Volume Set
Author: Sian Echard
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 2102
Release: 2017-08-07
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1118396987

Download The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 4 Volume Set Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain vereint erstmals wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zu Multilingualität und Interkulturalität im mittelalterlichen Britannien und bietet mehr als 600 fundierte Einträge zu Schlüsselpersonen, Zusammenhängen und Einflüssen in der Literatur vom fünften bis sechzehnten Jahrhundert. - Einzigartiger multilingualer, interkultureller Ansatz und die neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse. Das gesamte Mittelalter und die Bandbreite literarischer Sprachen werden abgedeckt. - Über 600 fundierte, verständliche Einträge zu Schlüsselpersonen, Texten, kritischen Debatten, Methoden, kulturellen Zusammenhängen sowie verwandte Terminologie. - Repräsentiert die gesamte Literatur der Britischen Inseln, einschließlich Alt- und Mittelenglisch, das frühe Schottland, die Anglonormannen, Nordisch, Latein und Französisch in Britannien, die keltische Literatur in Wales, Irland, Schottland und Cornwall. - Beeindruckende chronologische Darstellung, von der Invasion der Sachsen bis zum 5. Jahrhundert und weiter bis zum Übergang zur frühen Moderne im 16. Jahrhundert. - Beleuchtet die Überbleibsel mittelalterlicher britischer Literatur, darunter auch Manuskripte und frühe Drucke, literarische Stätten und Zusammenhänge in puncto Herstellung, Leistung und Rezeption sowie erzählerische Transformation und intertextuelle Verbindungen in dieser Zeit.

The Spirit of Medieval English Popular Romance

The Spirit of Medieval English Popular Romance
Author: Ad Putter
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2014-06-06
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1317885562

Download The Spirit of Medieval English Popular Romance Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The Middle English popular romances enjoyed a wide appeal in later medieval Britain, and even today students of medieval literature will encounter examples of the genre, such as Sir Orfeo, Sir Tristrem, and Sir Launfal. This collection of twelve specially commissioned essays is designed to meet the need for a stimulating guide to the genre. Each essay introduces one popular romance, setting it in its literary and historical contexts, and develops an original interpretation that reveals the possibilities that popular romances offer for modern literary criticism. A substantial introduction by the editors discusses the production and transmission of popular romances in the Middle Ages, and considers the modern reception of popular romance and the interpretative challenges offered by new theoretical approaches. Accessible to advanced students of English, this book is also of interest to those working in the field of medieval studies, comparative literature, and popular culture.

Intersections of Sexuality and the Divine in Medieval Culture

Intersections of Sexuality and the Divine in Medieval Culture
Author: Susannah Chewning
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2017-03-02
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1351926357

Download Intersections of Sexuality and the Divine in Medieval Culture Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

As distinct from the many recent collections and studies of medieval literature and culture that have focused on gender and sexuality as their major themes, this collection considers and serves to re-think and re-situate religion and sexuality together. Including 'traditional' works such as Chaucer and the Pearl-poet, as well as less well known and studied texts - such as alchemical texts and the Wohunge group - the contributors here focus on the meeting point of these two often-examined concepts. They seek an understanding of where sex and religion distinguish themselves from one another, and where they do not. This volume locates the Divine and the Erotic within the continuum of experience and devotion that characterize the paradox of the medieval world. Not merely original in their approaches, these authors seek a new vision of how these two inter-connected themes - sexuality and the Divine - meet, connect, distinguish themselves, and merge within medieval life, language, and literature.