Gestures and looks in medieval narrative / J.A. Burrow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Burrow, J. A. (John Anthony), author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in medieval literature ; 48.

Cambridge studies in medieval literature ; 48

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Literature, Medieval--History and criticism.

Literature, Medieval.

Narration (Rhetoric)--History--To 1500.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Nonverbal communication in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 200 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Gestures & Looks in Medieval Narrative

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In medieval society, gestures and speaking looks played an even more important part in public and private exchanges than they do today. Gestures meant more than words, for example, in ceremonies of homage and fealty. In this, the first study of its kind in English, John Burrow examines the role of non-verbal communication in a wide range of narrative texts, including Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Malory's Morte D'arthur, the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, the Prose Lancelot, Boccaccio's Il Filostrato, and Dante's Commedia. Burrow argues that since non-verbal signs are in general less subject to change than words, many of the behaviours recorded in these texts, such as pointing and amorous gazing, are familiar in themselves; yet many prove easy to misread, either because they are no longer common, like bowing, or because their use has changed, like winking.

Contents:

Introduction

Gestures

Looks

Two Middle English narratives

Dante's Commedia

Afterword.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 186-195) and indexes.

ISBN:

1-107-13412-9

0-521-05066-9

0-511-14793-7

0-511-32575-4

0-511-12073-7

0-511-48324-4

1-280-15970-7

0-511-04580-8

OCLC:

559073559