Between two stools: Scatology and its representations in English literature, Chaucer to Swift

by Peter J. Smith

Between two stools investigates the representation of scatology – humorous, carnivalesque, satirical, damning and otherwise – in English literature from the middle ages to the eighteenth century.

Smith contends that the ‘two stools’ stand for two broadly distinctive attitudes towards scatology. The first is a carnivalesque, merry, even hearty disposition, typified by the writings of Chaucer and Shakespeare. The second is self-disgust, an attitude characterised by withering misanthropy and hypochondria. Smith demonstrates how the combination of high and low cultures manifests the capacity to run canonical and carnivalesque together so that sanctioned and civilised artefacts and scatological humour frequently co-exist in the works under discussion, evidence of an earlier culture’s aptitude (now lost) to occupy a position between two stools.

Of interest to cultural and literary historians, this ground-breaking study testifies to the arrival of scatology as an academic subject, at the same time recognising that it remains if not outside, then at least at the margins of conventional scholarship.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2012

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

"Smith’s overall argument is simple: English literature from the 18th century or earlier cannot be properly and fully interpreted without understanding that scatological references at that time were even more prevalent than they are today, and that contemporary reactions to the scatological were less “Puritanical” than ours. In his view the 20th and 21st centuries are neo-Victorian in their prudishness, which he proves by convincingly reinterpreting many scatological references modern scholars have missed in canonical literature. His discoveries are all the more surprising in academic fields as long-standing and crowded as Shakespeare’s."
reviewed by Christina Black
http://review31.co.uk/article/view/33...

That's what I've always thought!

Is it Beethoven's 2nd Symphony that's got the fart in it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGKxs...
ah, the Fourth Movement ::
http://muswrite.blogspot.com/2012/04/...

[Terry Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an advanced copy of this outstanding book. All English teachers and those interested in the English language of Chaucer and Shakespeare should definitely have this on their reading list.