Deformed Discourse: The Function of the Monster in Mediaeval Thought and Literature (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies) - Hardcover

Williams, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0859895416 ISBN 13: 9780859895415

Publisher: Liverpool University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Now published in paperback, this fully-illustrated book explores the concept of the monster in the Middle Ages, examining its philosophical and theological roots and analysing its symbolic function in medieval literature and art. Fascinating and comprehensive, this study of the grotesque in medieval aesthetic expression successfully brings together medieval research and modern criticism.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In Part I, David Williams traces the poetics of teratology, the study of monsters, to Christian neoplatonic theology and philosophy, particularly Pseudo-Dionysius's negative theology and his central idea that God cannot be known except by knowing what he is not. Williams argues that the principles of negative theology as applied to epistemology and language made possible a symbolism of negation and paradox whose chief sign was the monster. Part II provides a taxonomy of monstrous forms with a gloss on each. Part III examines the monstrous and the deformed in three heroic sagas - the medieval Oedipus, The Romance of Alexander, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - and three saints' lives - Saint Denis, Saint Christopher, and Saint Wilgeforte. The book is beautifully illustrated with medieval representations of monsters.

About the Author

David Williams is Professor of English, McGill University, Canada.

Edition details

• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0859895416
• ISBN 13: 9780859895415
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 406