Obscene Pedagogies: Transgressive Talk and Sexual Education in Late Medieval Britain

by Carissa M. Harris

Overview

In Obscene Pedagogies, Carissa M. Harris investigates the relationship between obscenity, gender, and pedagogy in Middle English and Middle Scots literary texts from 1300 to 1580 to show how sexually explicit and defiantly vulgar speech taught readers and listeners about sexual behavior and consent.

Through innovative close readings of literary texts including erotic lyrics, single-woman's songs, debate poems between men and women, Scottish insult poetry battles, and The Canterbury Tales, Harris demonstrates how through its transgressive charge and galvanizing shock value, obscenity taught audiences about gender, sex, pleasure, and power in ways both positive and harmful. Harris's own voice, proudly witty and sharply polemical, inspires the reader to address these medieval texts with an eye on contemporary issues of gender, violence, and misogyny.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501730405
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2018
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.06(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Carissa M. Harris is Associate Professor of English at Temple University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: The Pedagogy of Obscenity
1. "Felawe Masculinity": Teaching Rape Culture in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
2. "With a cunt": Obscene Misogyny and Masculine Pedagogical Community inthe Middle Scots Flyting
3. Pastourelle Encounters: Rape, Consent, and Sexual Negotiation
4. Pedagogies of Pleasure: Peer Educationin Medieval Women's Songs
5. Songs of Wantonness: Voicing Desirein Two Lyric Anthologies
Conclusion: "Grab 'em by the pussy": Obscene Pedagogies, Past and Present
Appendix to Chapter 4: Songs of Lusty Maidens
Appendix to Chapter 5: Songs of Wantonness
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Dyan Elliott

Obscene Pedagogies is feminist scholarship at its best. Carissa Harris's deft delineation of misogynist lessons to the medieval reader is complemented by modern resonances in rugby culture, hip-hop, the harassment of women of color, and the chastity movement. The on-going objectification of women is emphasized by Harris's own chilling experiences, and epitomized by a pussy-grabbing president.

David Raybin

Harris is especially powerful when she explores the differing ways in which men and women use obscenity: men create fellowship by demeaning women, both verbally and physically; women use obscene response to protect themselves from male assault. The book couldn’t be more current, and I couldn’t stop reading.

Holly Crocker

Obscene Pedagogies is an invigorating and dynamic study of how obscenity facilitates same-sex education in premodern English literatures. Harris intelligently details how these literatures are in dialogue with one another, attesting to a nuanced and complex conversation regarding sexual contact, erotic intersubjectivity, and the limits of desire.

Editorial Reviews

In Obscene Pedagogies, Carissa M. Harris offers an energetic and incisive analysis of medieval narratives and current affairs that turn on the transgressive power of obscenity. Bold and stylish writing, exemplary close readings, and provocative takes on familiar texts make Obscene Pedagogies a book that will richly reward undergraduate readers.

The Review of English Studies

"In her meticulously argued new book, Carissa Harris shows that obscenity was used to convey vastly different lessons about sex and ethics in medieval literature.... Dirty words tell us plenty about power. They show us who can speak, enjoy or censor language. They also point to those who are violated, brutalized, silenced. But there is a playful side to obscenity.... Harris's compelling study shows that obscene language can be vicious or, in the right beds and in the right books, dedicated to pleasure."

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS

"Harris's book is a bold step forward, as well as a model of exemplary medievalist and feminist scholarship."

SPECULUM - Mary C. Flannery

"Harris is especially powerful when she explores the differing ways in which men and women use obscenity: men create fellowship by demeaning women, both verbally and physically; women use obscene response to protect themselves from male assault. The book couldn’t be more current, and I couldn’t stop reading."

David Raybin

"Obscene Pedagogiesis feminist scholarship at its best.Carissa Harris's deft delineation of misogynist lessons to the medieval reader is complemented by modern resonances in rugby culture, hip-hop, the harassment of women of color, and the chastity movement. The on-going objectification of women is emphasized by Harris's own chilling experiences, and epitomized by a pussy-grabbing president."

Dyan Elliott

"Obscene Pedagogies is an invigorating and dynamic study of how obscenity facilitates same-sex education in premodern English literatures. Harris intelligently details how these literatures are in dialogue with one another, attesting to a nuanced and complex conversation regarding sexual contact, erotic intersubjectivity, and the limits of desire."

Holly Crocker

In her meticulously argued new book, Carissa Harris shows that obscenity was used to convey vastly different lessons about sex and ethics in medieval literature.... Dirty words tell us plenty about power. They show us who can speak, enjoy or censor language. They also point to those who are violated, brutalized, silenced. But there is a playful side to obscenity.... Harris's compelling study shows that obscene language can be vicious or, in the right beds and in the right books, dedicated to pleasure.

London Review of Books

Harris's book is a bold step forward, as well as a model of exemplary medievalist and feminist scholarship.

Speculum

This book marks a rare—but, one hopes, not for long—example of scholarship that employs skillful literary and cultural analysis to enlarge understanding of enduring social justice problems.... Harris's work is valuable for her insights about discourses surrounding sexual violence in the late Middle Ages. It is equally valuable for how she teaches her audiences about the diversity of ways sexual violence can be perceived, deployed, taught, experienced, and resisted in the Middle Ages and in the present moment.... It is a book that should not be restricted to the shelves of medievalists.

Studies in the Age of Chaucer

Harris is an astute close reader of Late Middle English obscenity.

Times Higher Education

There is a lot to commend in this book. Aside from its vigorous and energetic writing and the sheer density of insights, its overall approach is also worthy of note.

Modern Philology

Harris is an astute close reader of Late Middle English obscenity.

-- "Times Higher Education"

Harris's book is a bold step forward, as well as a model of exemplary medievalist and feminist scholarship.

-- "Speculum"

In her meticulously argued new book, Carissa Harris shows that obscenity was used to convey vastly different lessons about sex and ethics in medieval literature.... Dirty words tell us plenty about power. They show us who can speak, enjoy or censor language. They also point to those who are violated, brutalized, silenced. But there is a playful side to obscenity.... Harris's compelling study shows that obscene language can be vicious or, in the right beds and in the right books, dedicated to pleasure.

-- "London Review of Books"

In Obscene Pedagogies, Carissa M. Harris offers an energetic and incisive analysis of medieval narratives and current affairs that turn on the transgressive power of obscenity. Bold and stylish writing, exemplary close readings, and provocative takes on familiar texts make Obscene Pedagogies a book that will richly reward undergraduate readers.

-- "The Review of English Studies"

There is a lot to commend in this book. Aside from its vigorous and energetic writing and the sheer density of insights, its overall approach is also worthy of note.

-- "Modern Philology"

This book marks a rare--but, one hopes, not for long--example of scholarship that employs skillful literary and cultural analysis to enlarge understanding of enduring social justice problems.... Harris's work is valuable for her insights about discourses surrounding sexual violence in the late Middle Ages. It is equally valuable for how she teaches her audiences about the diversity of ways sexual violence can be perceived, deployed, taught, experienced, and resisted in the Middle Ages and in the present moment.... It is a book that should not be restricted to the shelves of medievalists.

-- "Studies in the Age of Chaucer"

From the Publisher