Parody in the Middle Ages: The Latin Tradition (Recentiores: Later Latin Texts and Contexts)1997

Parody in the Middle Ages: The Latin Tradition surveys and analyzes Latin parodies of texts and documents in Western Europe. Biblical parody, drinker's masses, bawdy litanies, lives of saints such as Nemo (Nobody) and Invicem (One-Another), and nonsense texts were all part of this irreverent genre written from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. This book surveys an entire tradition, and in so doing also sketches in the background to the canonical works of medieval literature: Chaucer's fabliaux, French comic tales such as the Roman de Renart, and medieval satire in general. Parody in the Middle Ages surveys in detail five of the most common traditions of parody. It provides a handlist of medieval Latin parodies and also provides in an appendix 18 complete texts in the original Latin, with English translations. These texts have been collated from over a hundred manuscripts, many previously unknown. Parody in the Middle Ages appeals to the modern audience not only for its cultural value but also for the same reason the parodies appealed to the medieval audience: they are simply very funny. This welcome new volume will be of particular interest to students of medieval satire and literary culture, to medieval Latinists, and to those who want to explore the breadth of medieval culture.