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Author Harris, Carissa M., author.

Title Obscene pedagogies : transgressive talk and sexual education in late medieval Britain / Carissa M. Harris
Published Ithaca : Cornell University Press, [2018]
©2018

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 285 pages)
Contents Introduction : the pedagogy of obscenity -- "Felawe masculinity" : teaching rape culture in Chaucer's Canterbury tales -- "With a cunt" : obscene misogyny and masculine pedagogical community in the Middle Scots flyting -- Pastourelle encounters : rape, consent, and sexual negotiation -- Pedagogies of pleasure : peer education in medieval women's songs -- Songs of wantonness : voicing desire in two lyric anthologies -- Conclusion : obscene pedagogies, past and present
Summary "Obscene Pedagogies argues that sexual obscenity was a valuable tool for educating individuals about rape, consent, desire, and pleasure in the Middle Ages as well as in our own time"-- Provided by publisher
"As anyone who has read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales knows, Middle English literature is rife with sexually explicit language and situations. Less canonical works can be even more brazen in describing illicit acts of sexual activity and sexual violence. Such scenes and language were not, however, included exclusively for titillation. In Obscene Pedagogies, Carissa M. Harris argues instead for obscenity's usefulness in sexual education. She investigates the relationship between obscenity, gender, and pedagogy in Middle English and Middle Scots literary texts from 1300 to 1580 to show how sexually explicit and defiantly vulgar speech taught readers and listeners about sexual behavior and consent. Through innovative close readings of literary texts including erotic lyrics, single-woman's songs, debate poems between men and women, Scottish insult poetry battles, and The Canterbury Tales, Harris demonstrates how through its transgressive charge and galvanizing shock value, obscenity taught audiences about gender, sex, pleasure, and power in ways both positive and harmful. She focuses in particular on understudied female-voiced lyrics and gendered debate poems, many of which have their origin in oral culture, and includes teaching-ready editions of fourteen largely unknown anonymous lyrics in women's voices. Harris ... inspires the reader to address these medieval texts with an eye on contemporary issues of gender, violence, and misogyny"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on print version record
Subject English literature -- Middle English, 1100-1500 -- History and criticism
Obscene words in literature.
Sex in literature.
Misogyny in literature.
Sex instruction -- Great Britain -- History -- To 1500
Sex role -- Great Britain -- History -- To 1500
LITERARY CRITICISM -- European -- English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- Medieval.
English literature -- Middle English
Misogyny in literature
Obscene words in literature
Sex in literature
Sex instruction
Sex role
Great Britain
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2019716230
ISBN 9781501730429
1501730428
9781501730412
150173041X