eBook

Kiss my relics

Rollo, David

2011

Overview

Conservative thinkers of the early Middle Ages conceived of sensual gratification as a demonic snare contrived to debase the higher faculties of humanity, and they identified pagan writing as one of the primary conduits of decadence. Two aspects of the pagan legacy were treated with particular distrust: fiction, conceived as a devious contrivance that falsified God's order; and rhetorical opulence, viewed as a vain extravagance. Writing that offered these dangerous allurements came to be known as \"hermaphroditic\" and, by the later Middle Ages, to be equated with homosexuality. At the margins of these developments, however, some authors began to validate fiction as a medium for truth and a source of legitimate enjoyment, while others began to explore and defend the pleasures of opulent rhetoric. Here David Rollo examines two such texts—Alain de Lille's De planctu Naturae and Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose—arguing that their authors, in acknowledging the liberating potential of their irregular written orientations, brought about a nuanced reappraisal of homosexuality. Rollo concludes with a consideration of the influence of the latter on Chaucer's Pardoner's Prologue and Tale.

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press,The University of Chicago Press
• Subject: Alanus / Alanus, de Insulis / Alanus, de Insulis, d. 1202. De planctu naturae / belief / ca. 1090-1143 / chaucer / conservative / Criticism and interpretation / d. 1202 / d. 1305? / De gestis regum Anglorum / de Insulis / de Lorris / de Meun / De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii / De planctu naturae / era / extravagance / faith / fiction / fictional / fl. 1230 / god / gratification / Guillaume / Guillaume, de Lorris / Guillaume, de Lorris, fl. 1230. Roman de la rose / hermaphrodite / hermaphroditic / historical / history / HISTORY / Medieval / History and criticism / homosexuality / Homosexuality in literature / human nature / Intersexuality in literature / Jean / Jean, de Meun / Jean, de Meun, d. 1305? -- Criticism and interpretation / Latin literature, Medieval and modern / Latin literature, Medieval and modern -- History and criticism / literary / LITERARY CRITICISM / LITERARY CRITICISM / General / LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval / literature / Literature, Medieval / Literature, Medieval -- History and criticism / Martianus Capella / Martianus Capella. De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii / medieval / middle ages / morals / of Malmesbury / opulence / pagan / Paraphilias in literature / pardoners tale / purity / religion / religious studies / rhetorical / Roman de la rose / sensual / sensuality / sex / sexuality / sin / sinful / SOCIAL SCIENCE / LGBT Studies / Gay Studies / taboo / time period / William / William, of Malmesbury / William, of Malmesbury, ca. 1090-1143. De gestis regum Anglorum
• ISBN: 0226724611, 9780226724607, 0226724603, 9780226724614