Beasts, Humans, and Transhumans in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Edited by Eugene Clay
From shape-shifting Merlin to the homunculi of Paracelsus, the nine fascinating essays of this collection explore the contested boundaries between human and non-human animals, between the body and the spirit, and between the demonic and the divine.
From shape-shifting Merlin to the homunculi of Paracelsus, the nine fascinating essays of this collection explore the contested boundaries between human and non-human animals, between the body and the spirit, and between the demonic and the divine. Drawing on recent work in animal studies, posthumanism, and transhumanism, these innovative articles show how contemporary debates about the nature and future of humanity have deep roots in the myths, literature, philosophy, and art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The authors of these essays demonstrate how classical stories of monsters and metamorphoses offered philosophers, artists, and poets a rich source for reflection on marriage, resurrection, and the passions of love. The ambiguous and shifting distinctions between human, animal, demon, and angel have long been contentious. Beasts can elevate humanity: for Renaissance courtiers, horsemanship defined nobility. But animals are also associated with the demonic, and medieval illuminators portrayed Satan with bestial features. Divided into three sections that examine metamorphoses, human-animal relations, and the demonic and monstrous, this volume raises intriguing questions about the ways humans have understood their kinship with animals, nature, and the supernatural.
- Edited by Eugene Clay
Other Titles in this Series
At the Table
Metaphorical and Material Cultures of Food in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Volume 18
Reinventing the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Constructions of the Medieval and Early Modern Periods
Volume 1
The Future of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Problems, Trends, and Opportunities for Research
Volume 2
Crossing Boundaries
Issues of Cultural and Individual Identities in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Volume 3
Translatio or the Transmission of Culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Modes and Messages
Volume 13
Reading the Natural World in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Perceptions of the Environment and Ecology
Volume 46
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