This study traces fundamental parallels between medieval European and Middle Eastern cultures. By examining sources in cultural history, literature, and architecture, this book reveals mutual influences evident in the development of the current conception of the Middle Ages.
"This book traces the strangely intertwined histories of the Middle Ages and the Orient as they are represented in histories of literature, architecture, and language, revealing an identity crisis in the idea of a purely Western Civilization. The definition of medieval culture, …
Whereas modern criticism has emphasized the unity and sense of permanence in The Canterbury Tales, John Ganim alerts us to a dialectically opposing dimension that Chaucer's poetics shares with the popular culture of the late Middle Ages: his celebration of the ephemeral and his …
Whereas modern criticism has emphasized the unity and sense of permanence in The Canterbury Tales, John Ganim alerts us to a dialectically opposing dimension that Chaucer's poetics shares with the popular culture of the late Middle Ages: his celebration of the ephemeral and his …