Monsters abound in Old and Middle English literature, from Grendel and his mother in Beowulf to those found in medieval romances such as Sir Gowther. Through a close examination of the way in which their bodies are sexed and gendered, and drawing from postmodern theories of gend…
Case studies of Wonders of the East, Beowulf, Mandeville's Travels, the Alliterative Morte Arthure and Sir Gowther reveal a shift in attitudes toward the gendered and sexed body, and thus toward identity, between the two periods: while Old English authors and artists respond to …
Williams 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.
Williams 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.
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 …
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 …
Margrit Shildrick's exploration of the monstrous reveals how humans register concepts of bodily normality and perfection. The author calls upon society to rethink the monstrous, not as an abnormal category, but as a condition of attractiveness.
Margrit Shildrick's exploration of the monstrous reveals how humans register concepts of bodily normality and perfection. The author calls upon society to rethink the monstrous, not as an abnormal category, but as a condition of attractiveness.
"The time has come for human cultures to seriously think, to severely conceptualize, and to earnestly fabulate about all the nonhuman critters we share our world with, and to consider how to strive for more ethical cohabitation. Reconfiguring Human, Nonhuman and Posthuman in Lit…
Miller argues that one incarnation of monstrosity in the Middle Ages - the female body - exists in special relation to medieval conceptualizations of the monstrous. She considers several significant texts representing authoritative discourses on female monstrosity in the Middle …