Homoeroticism and chivalry : discourses of male same-sex desire in the fourteenth century / Richard E. Zeikowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zeikowitz, Richard E.

Series:

New Middle Ages (Palgrave Macmillan (Firm))

New Middle Ages

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gay people--Europe--History--To 1500.

Gay people.

Homosexuality in literature.

Civilization, Medieval.

Literature, Medieval.

History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

216 pages ; 22 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Summary:

Richard E. Zeikowitz explores various discourses of male same-sex desire in diverse 14th century chivalric texts and describes the sociopolitical forces motivating those discourses. He attempts to dethrone traditional heteronormative views by drawing attention to culturally normative "queer" desire. Zeikowitz articulates possible homoeroticized interactions in chivalric texts, such as Charny's Book of Chivalry, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde. He also examines how intimate male bonds are rendered as dangerous attachments in chronicle narratives of the reigns of Edward II and Richard II.

Contents:

1. Articulating Premodern Male Homoeroticism 1

Part 1 Affirmations of Male Same-Sex Desire 17

Introduction: Promoting Homosocial Intimacy 18

2. Chivalric Bonds and the Ideals of Friendship 27

3. Competing Desires 45

4. Homoerotic Identifications 67

5. Male-Male Gazing 85

Part 2 Denigrations of Male Same-Sex Desire 101

Introduction: Sodomy as a Discursive Weapon 102

6. Sodomy, Politics, and Male-Male Desire 107

7. Dramatized Sodomitical Discourse: The Case of Troilus and Pandarus 131

Afterword: Queer Lessons from the Fourteenth Century 151.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [155]-211) and index.

ISBN:

1403960429

OCLC:

51922985