Behaving like Fools
Voice, Gesture, and Laughter in Texts, Manuscripts, and Early Books
Edited by Lucy Perry Edited by Alexander Schwarz
The period from 1200 to 1600 was the golden age of fools. From representations of irreverent acts to full-blown insanity, fools appeared on the misericords of gothic churches and in the plots of Arthurian narratives, before achieving a wider prominence in literature and iconography in the decades around 1500. But how are we to read these figures appropriately? Is it possible to reconstruct the fascination that fools exerted on the medieval and early modern mind? While modern theories give us the analytical tools to explore this subject, we are faced with the paradox that by striving to understand fools and foolishness we no longer accept their ways but impose rational categories on them. Together these essays propose one way out of this dilemma. Instead of attempting to define the fool or trying to find the common denominator behind his many masks, this volume focuses on the qualities, acts, and gestures that signify foolishness. By investigating different manifestations of foolery rather than the figure of the fool himself, we can begin to understand the proliferation of fools and foolish behaviour in the texts and illustrations of manuscripts and early books.
The period from 1200 to 1600 was the golden age of fools. From representations of irreverent acts to full-blown insanity, fools appeared on the misericords of gothic churches and in the plots of Arthurian narratives, before achieving a wider prominence in literature and iconography in the decades around 1500. But how are we to read these figures appropriately? Is it possible to reconstruct the fascination that fools exerted on the medieval and early modern mind? While modern theories give us the analytical tools to explore this subject, we are faced with the paradox that by striving to understand fools and foolishness we no longer accept their ways but impose rational categories on them. Together these essays propose one way out of this dilemma. Instead of attempting to define the fool or trying to find the common denominator behind his many masks, this volume focuses on the qualities, acts, and gestures that signify foolishness. By investigating different manifestations of foolery rather than the figure of the fool himself, we can begin to understand the proliferation of fools and foolish behaviour in the texts and illustrations of manuscripts and early books.
- Edited by Lucy Perry
- Edited by Alexander Schwarz
Other Titles in this Series
Approaches to Poverty in Medieval Europe
Complexities, Contradictions, Transformations, c. 1100-1500
Volume 22
The Medieval Household in Christian Europe, c. 850-c. 1550
Managing Power, Wealth, and the Body
Volume 12
Languages of Love and Hate
Conflict, Communication, and Identity in the Medieval Mediterranean
Volume 15
The Vocation of Service to God and Neighbour
Essays on the Interests, Involvements and Problems of Religious Communities and their Members in Medieval Society
Volume 5
Exile in the Middle Ages
Selected Proceedings from the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 8-11 July 2002
Volume 13
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