On Farting: Language and Laughter in the Middle Ages

This book presents waste as an aesthetic category that introduces an arsy-versy world where detritus is precious. This aesthetic is applied in the second part to etymology, poking through the "paternal dungheaps" of words, and tracing their origins not to Eden but to Babel, puns, and word play. Finally, in the case of Roland the Farter, who performed annually a jump, whistle, and fart before the king of England, we encounter the resistance of the past to historical rationalization. Roland moons at us across the centuries, deflating our attempts to become one flesh with the past, and placing laughter at the heart of knowing.

Author: V. Allen
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 05/25/2010
Pages: 262
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.50w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780230100398

About the Author
VALERIE ALLEN is Associate Professor of Literature at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, USA.