Memento Mori: The (Dead) Body in Medieval and Early Modern Literature and Culture

Murdered corpses ooze blood which identifies their killers; holy remains secrete sweet smelling fluids which heal the sick. A bustling trade in the dismembered body parts of "saints" sprawls across Europe. The dominant religious system revolves around the consumption of flesh. In this course, we will explore the multiple roles of the dying, dead, and decaying body in the Western European medieval and early modern world. Our examination of physical and spiritual uses and abuses of the body will include medieval chronicles and saint’s lives, works by Shakespeare, Dante, and Donne, and contemporary novels by M. T. Anderson and Tamsyn Muir. We will consider the troubled distinction between soul and body, the evolving attitudes towards human remains and their (ghostly) afterlives, and the signifying power of the pre- and early modern corpse. No prerequisites necessary.