Sin and Filth in Medieval Culture: The Devil in the Latrine

ISBN-13: 9780415897808 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 266 str.

Martha Bayless

Opis

This important new contribution to the history of the body analyzes the role of filth as the material counterpart of sin in medieval thought. Using a wide range of texts, including theology, historical documents, and literature from Augustine to Chaucer, the book shows how filth was regarded as fundamental to an understanding of human history. This theological significance explains the prominence of filth and dung in all genres of medieval writing: there is more dung in theology than there is in Chaucer.

Spis treści

1. The Devil in the Latrine  2. Pollution and Filth in the Middle Ages: Material Realities  3. The Symbolic Order of the Body  4. The Realm of Corruption  5. In Conclusion

O autorze

Martha Bayless is Associate Professor of English at the University of Oregon, US.