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About this book
This book interrogates our ideas about heterosexuality through examination of medieval romance narratives. Familiar configurations of romantic fiction such as male desire overwhelming feminine reluctance and the aloof masculine hero undone by love derive from this period. This book tests current theories of language and desire through stylistic analysis, examining transitivity choices and speech acts in sexual encounters and conversations in medieval romances. In the context of current preoccupations with gender and sexuality, and consent in rape cases, this study is of interest to scholars investigating language and sexuality as well as those researching and teaching medieval literature and culture.
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
Reviews
"This study makes a significant and needed contribution to Chaucer studies. It provides an attractive application of close linguistic analysis to discuss central medieval texts including Chaucer, in the context of current interests in gender and sexuality. Filled with precise and measurable observations - sometimes counter-intuitive- it lays down a marker for less textually observant theoretical approaches. It is written with verve and style, engages with issues of topical interest and encourages a sharp, intellectual approach to the text - not only of Chaucer, but of often neglected medieval romances." - Rosalind Field, Royal Holloway University of London
About the author
LOUISE M. SYLVESTER is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Central England, Birmingham, UK.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Medieval Romance and the Construction of Heterosexuality
Authors: Louise M. Sylvester
Series Title: The New Middle Ages
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230610316
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: Louise M. Sylvester 2008
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-230-60278-6Published: 21 July 2008
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-37111-2Published: 08 November 2015
eBook ISBN: 978-0-230-61031-6Published: 25 December 2007
Series ISSN: 2945-5936
Series E-ISSN: 2945-5944
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 202
Topics: Medieval Literature, Gender Studies, Classical and Antique Literature, Social History, History of Medieval Europe