Dismemberment in the Medieval and Early Modern English Imaginary

Frederika Elizabeth Bain

Published by Medieval Institute Publications 2021

Dismemberment in the Medieval and Early Modern English Imaginary

The Performance of Difference

Frederika Elizabeth Bain

In the series Late Tudor and Stuart Drama

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501513237

Overview
Contents

About this book

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The medieval and early modern English imaginary encompasses a broad range of negative and positive dismemberments, from the castration anxieties of Turk plays to the elite practices of distributive burial. This study argues that representations and instances of bodily fragmentation illustrated and performed acts of exclusion and inclusion, detaching not only limbs from bodies but individuals from identity groups. Within this context it examines questions of legitimate and illegitimate violence, showing that such distinctions largely rested upon particular acts’ assumed symbolic meanings. Specific chapters address ways dismemberments manifested gender, human versus animal nature, religious and ethnic identity, and social rank. The book concludes by examining the afterlives of body parts, including relics and specimens exhibited for entertainment and education, contextualized by discussion of the resurrection body and its promise of bodily reintegration. Grounded in dramatic works, the study also incorporates a variety of genres from midwifery manuals to broadside ballads.

Author information

Frederika Elizabeth Bain, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, USA.

Reviews

"Overall, this book presents a wealth of materials concerned with dismemberment in the widest possible sense. Bain is extremely knowledgeable concerning the pertinent sources and examples from a wide variety of texts. This will make the book an invaluable resource for scholars, mostly of literature, in search of references for a specific kind of dismemberment or a specific text." Nicole Nyffenegger in: The Medieval Review, 23.05.22

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Introduction: Attending to Bodies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1: The Symbolic Body and the Performance of Dismemberment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
Chapter 2: Gendered Dismemberments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
Chapter 3: Animals of Dismemberment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Chapter 4: The Anguish of the Dismemberer: Executioners and Others Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Chapter 5: Coda: After Dismemberment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
Audience: Medievalists, scholars of Theatre and Literary Studies
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 303
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 1
Keywords: Dismemberment; Embodiement; Body; Punition; Execution; Performance

eBook

Published: November 23, 2020
ISBN: 9781501513237

Hardcover

Published: November 23, 2020
ISBN: 9781501517860