God, Sex and Grammar: Literary Ethics in Medieval Europe

What does it mean to read and write ethically? While modern culture values intellectual property, many medieval texts celebrated what we call plagiarism. On the other hand, medieval thinkers saw serious consequences in literature, which could lead authors and readers to heaven or hell. But then as now, ethics were rarely clear-cut, subject to forces as diverse as religion, sexual desire, capitalism, and even language itself. Reading some of the great authors of the period, as well as modern critical reflections, we will explore the ethical dimension of literary production in the medieval world and in our own society.