| Truth and the Heretic: Crises of Knowledge in Medieval French Literature Contributor(s): Sullivan, Karen (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226781690 ISBN-13: 9780226781693 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $48.51 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: September 2005 Annotation: In the Middle Ages, the heretic, more than any other social or religious deviant, was experienced as an imaginary construct. Everyone believed heretics existed, but no one believed himself or herself to be a heretic, even if condemned as such by representatives of the Catholic Church. Those accused of heresy, meanwhile, maintained that they were the good Christians and their accusers were the false ones. Exploring the figure of the heretic in Catholic writings of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as well as the heretic's characterological counterpart in troubadour lyrics, Arthurian romance, and comic tales, " Truth and the Heretic "seeks to understand why French literature of the period celebrated the very characters who were so persecuted in society at large. Karen Sullivan proposes that such literature allowed medieval culture a means by which to express truths about heretics and the epistemological anxieties they aroused. The first book-length study of the figure of the heretic in medieval French literature, "Truth and the Heretic" explores the relation between orthodoxy and deviance, authority and innovation, and will fascinate historians of ideas and literature as well as scholars of religion, critical theory, and philosophy. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Medieval - Literary Criticism | European - French |
| Dewey: 840.938 |
| LCCN: 2005002673 |
| Physical Information: 0.98" H x 6.34" W x 9.28" (1.18 lbs) 288 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Medieval (500-1453) - Cultural Region - French - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In the Middle Ages, the heretic, more than any other social or religious deviant, was experienced as an imaginary construct. Everyone believed heretics existed, but no one believed himself or herself to be a heretic, even if condemned as such by representatives of the Catholic Church. Those accused of heresy, meanwhile, maintained that they were the good Christians and their accusers were the false ones. Exploring the figure of the heretic in Catholic writings of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as well as the heretic's characterological counterpart in troubadour lyrics, Arthurian romance, and comic tales, Truth and the Heretic seeks to understand why French literature of the period celebrated the very characters who were so persecuted in society at large. Karen Sullivan proposes that such literature allowed medieval culture a means by which to express truths about heretics and the epistemological anxieties they aroused. The first book-length study of the figure of the heretic in medieval French literature, Truth and the Heretic explores the relation between orthodoxy and deviance, authority and innovation, and will fascinate historians of ideas and literature as well as scholars of religion, critical theory, and philosophy. |
Contributor Bio(s): Sullivan, Karen: - Karen Sullivan is the Irma Brandeis Professor of Romance Culture and Literature at Bard College. She is the author of The Interrogation of Joan of Arc and of Truth and the Heretic: Crises of Knowledge in Medieval French Literature, the winner of the Modern Language Association's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for French and Francophone Studies. |