Form and foreskin : medieval narratives of circumcision / A.W. Strouse.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Strouse, A. W., author.

Contributor:

Albert C. Baugh Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430. De Genesi ad litteram.

Augustine.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Gawain and the Grene Knight.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400. Wife of Bath's tale.

Chaucer, Geoffrey.

De Genesi ad litteram (Augustine, of Hippo, Saint).

Wife of Bath's tale (Chaucer, Geoffrey).

Literature, Medieval--History and criticism.

Literature, Medieval.

Circumcision in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

165 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Form & foreskin

Place of Publication:

New York : Fordham University Press, 2021.

Summary:

"Why did Saint Augustine ask God to "circumcise his lips?" Why does Sir Gawain cut off the Green Knight's head on the Feast of the Circumcision? Is Chaucer's Wife of Bath actually-as an early glossator figures her-a foreskin? And why did Ezra Pound claim that he had incubated The Waste Land inside of his uncut member? In this little book, A.W. Strouse excavates a poetics of the foreskin, uncovering how Patristic theologies of circumcision came to structure medieval European literary aesthetics. Following the writings of Saint Paul, "circumcision" and "uncircumcision" become key terms for theorizing language-especially the dichotomies between the mere text and its extended exegesis, between brevity and long-windedness, between wisdom and folly. Form and Foreskin looks to three works: a peculiar story by Saint Augustine about a boy with the long foreskin; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; and Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale. By examining literary scenes of cutting and stretching, Strouse exposes how patristic treatments of circumcision queerly govern medieval poetics"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. The Gospel According to the Foreskin

2. Saint Augustine and the Boy with the Long Foreskin

3. Nicking Sir Gawain

4. The Foreskin of Marriage.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Albert C. Baugh Book Fund.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9780823294749

0823294749

9780823294756

0823294757

OCLC:

1178635992

Publisher Number:

99990694646