Between two stools: Scatology and its representations in English literature, Chaucer to Swift

Smith, Peter J.

ISBN 10: 0719097614 / ISBN 13: 9780719097614

Edité par Manchester University Press, 2015

A propos de cet article

2015.Softcover.First Paperback Edition.Very good condition.292 pages.Ships from Japan.Usually ships in 1-2 working days.

N° de réf. du vendeur 16453

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Between two stools: Scatology and its representations in English literature, Chaucer to Swift
• Éditeur: Manchester University Press
• Date de parution: 2015
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0719097614
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780719097614
• Reliure: Soft cover
• Édition: 1st Edition
• État de l'article: Very Good
• État de la jaquette: No Jacket

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Now available in paperback, Between two stools investigates the representation of scatology - humorous, carnivalesque, satirical, damning and otherwise - in English literature from the middle ages to the eighteenth century.

Smith contends that the 'two stools' stand for two broadly distinctive attitudes towards scatology. The first is a carnivalesque, merry, even hearty disposition, typified by the writings of Chaucer and Shakespeare. The second is self-disgust, an attitude characterised by withering misanthropy and hypochondria. Smith demonstrates how the combination of high and low cultures manifests the capacity to run canonical and carnivalesque together so that sanctioned and civilised artefacts and scatological humour frequently co-exist in the works under discussion, evidence of an earlier culture's aptitude (now lost) to occupy a position between two stools.

Of interest to cultural and literary historians, this ground-breaking study testifies to the arrival of scatology as an academic subject, at the same time recognising that it remains if not outside, then at least at the margins of conventional scholarship.

À propos de l?auteur

Peter J. Smith is Reader in Renaissance Literature, Nottingham Trent University