THE SPECTACLE OF THE BODY IN LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
LUMEN – Copyright © 2020 – CULTURAL DIMENSIONS Book Series
FORMAT: Paperback PAGES: 407 LANGUAGE: English
ISBN: 9789731665580
Description:
Why a ‘spectacle’ of the body? Why not an ‘imaginary’ of the body or ‘images’ or perhaps ‘concepts’? Even to the lay reader, the two sets – ‘spectacle’ as a category unto its own versus the remainder, especially the latter two concepts – likely evoke entrenched binaries such as dynamic vs. static views of the body. Yet not even at the most abstract conceptual level can the body be pictured as entirely static: medieval discursive practices testify to this much despite their rejection of body dynamics and change, regarded as damaging to spirituality. As we shall see, the body, whether in a strict biological sense or in metaphorical senses, was for medieval people the phenomenon most clearly anchored in earthly life. (The author)
Topics of interest:
- Medieval England
- Cultural, British, American, Jewish, Islamic studies
- Literary studies
