The Body and the Soul in Medieval Literature

The theme of the body-and-soul relationship in medieval texts and in modern reworkings of medieval matter is explored in the articles here specifically the representation of the body in romance; the relevance of bawdy tales to the cultural experience of authors and readers in the middle ages; the function of despair or melancholy in medieval and Renaissance literature; and the political significance of late medieval representations of `bodies' in the chroniclers' accounts of the Rising and in Gower's poems. Two articles are devoted to modern retellings of medieval themes: John Foxe's 'Acts and Monuments' seen in relation to the traditional 'acta martyrum' and the medieval revival in Tory Britain exemplified in Douglas Oliver's 'The Infant and the Pearl'. Contributors: PAMELA JOSEPH BENSON NIGEL S. THOMPSON JON WHITMAN JEROME MANDEL BARBARA NOLAN YASUNARI TAKADA YVETTE MARCHAND ROBERT F. YEAGER JOERG O. FICHTE JOHN KERRIGAN