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oapen-20.500.12657-620462024-03-27T14:14:43Z Literature as Recreation in the Later Middle Ages Olson, Glending Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval This book studies attitudes toward secular literature during the later Middle Ages. Exploring two related medieval justifications of literary pleasure—one finding hygienic or therapeutic value in entertainment, and another stressing the psychological and ethical rewards of taking time out from work in order to refresh oneself—Glending Olson reveals that, contrary to much recent opinion, many medieval writers and thinkers accepted delight and enjoyment as valid goals of literature without always demanding moral profit as well. Drawing on a vast amount of primary material, including contemporary medical manuscripts and printed texts, Olson discusses theatrics, humanist literary criticism, prologues to romances and fabliaux, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. He offers an extended examination of the framing story of Boccaccio's Decameron. Although intended principally as a contribution to the history of medieval literary theory and criticism, Literature as Recreation in the Later Middle Ages makes use of medical, psychological, and sociological insights that lead to a fuller understanding of late medieval secular culture. 2023-03-29T15:49:17Z 2023-03-29T15:49:17Z 1986 book ONIX_20230329_9781501746758_32 9781501746758 9781501746765 9781501746741 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/62046 eng application/pdf application/epub+zip Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International 9781501746758.pdf 9781501746765.epub http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801414947/literature-as-recreation-in-the-later-middle-ages Cornell University Press Cornell University Press 10.7298/b06w-b910 10.7298/b06w-b910 06a447d4-1d09-460f-8b1d-3b4b09d64407 0314e571-4102-4526-b014-3ed8f2d6750a 9781501746758 9781501746765 9781501746741 Cornell University Press 246 Ithaca [...] Open Book Program National Endowment for the Humanities NEH open access
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This book studies attitudes toward secular literature during the later Middle Ages. Exploring two related medieval justifications of literary pleasure—one finding hygienic or therapeutic value in entertainment, and another stressing the psychological and ethical rewards of taking time out from work in order to refresh oneself—Glending Olson reveals that, contrary to much recent opinion, many medieval writers and thinkers accepted delight and enjoyment as valid goals of literature without always demanding moral profit as well. Drawing on a vast amount of primary material, including contemporary medical manuscripts and printed texts, Olson discusses theatrics, humanist literary criticism, prologues to romances and fabliaux, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. He offers an extended examination of the framing story of Boccaccio's Decameron. Although intended principally as a contribution to the history of medieval literary theory and criticism, Literature as Recreation in the Later Middle Ages makes use of medical, psychological, and sociological insights that lead to a fuller understanding of late medieval secular culture.
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