Laughter and Awkwardness in Late Medieval England: Social Discomfort in the Literature of the Middle Ages


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Description

'We live, ' according to Adam Kotsko, 'in an awkward age.' While this condition may present some challenges, it may also help us to be more attuned to awkwardness in other ages. This book explores laughter and awkwardness in late-medieval English literature.

In this nuanced and engaging study, David Watt focuses especially, but not exclusively, on the 15th century, which seems to intervene awkwardly in the literary trajectory between Chaucer and the Renaissance. The hypothesis of this book is that the social discomfort depicted and engendered by writers as diverse as Thomas Hoccleve, Margery Kempe, and Sir Thomas Malory is a feature rather than a flaw. In exploring this, Laughter and Awkwardness in Late Medieval England reveals how and why these texts generate awkwardness and questions and in turn contemplates what it meant to live together in an awkward age

Author: David Watt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 09/21/2023
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.03lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.50d
ISBN13: 9781788314305
ISBN10: 1788314301
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Criticism | Medieval
- History | Europe | Great Britain | Norman Conquest to Late Medieval (1
- History | Social History

About the Author
David Watt is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media and Director of the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Manitoba, Canada.