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eBook - ePub
Medieval Marvels and Fictions in the Latin West and Islamic World
About this book
A cross-cultural study of magical phenomena in the Middle Ages.
Marvels like enchanted rings and sorcerers' stones were topics of fascination in the Middle Ages, not only in romance and travel literature but also in the period's philosophical writing. Rather than constructions of belief accepted only by simple-minded people, Michelle Karnes shows that these spectacular wonders were near impossibilities that demanded scrutiny and investigation.
This is the first book to analyze a diverse set of writings on such wonders, comparing texts from the Latin Westâincluding those written in English, French, Italian, and Castilian Spanish âwith those written in Arabic as it works toward a unifying theory of marvels across different disciplines and cultures. Karnes tells a story about the parallels between Arabic and Latin thought, reminding us that experiences of the strange and the unfamiliar travel across a range of genres, spanning geographical and conceptual space and offering an ideal vantage point from which to understand intercultural exchange. Karnes traverses this diverse archive, showing how imagination imbues marvels with their character and power, making them at once enigmatic, creative, and resonant. Skirting the distinction between the real and unreal, these marvels challenge readers to discover the highest capabilities of both nature and the human intellect. Karnes offers a rare comparative perspective and a new methodology to study a topic long recognized as central to medieval culture.
Marvels like enchanted rings and sorcerers' stones were topics of fascination in the Middle Ages, not only in romance and travel literature but also in the period's philosophical writing. Rather than constructions of belief accepted only by simple-minded people, Michelle Karnes shows that these spectacular wonders were near impossibilities that demanded scrutiny and investigation.
This is the first book to analyze a diverse set of writings on such wonders, comparing texts from the Latin Westâincluding those written in English, French, Italian, and Castilian Spanish âwith those written in Arabic as it works toward a unifying theory of marvels across different disciplines and cultures. Karnes tells a story about the parallels between Arabic and Latin thought, reminding us that experiences of the strange and the unfamiliar travel across a range of genres, spanning geographical and conceptual space and offering an ideal vantage point from which to understand intercultural exchange. Karnes traverses this diverse archive, showing how imagination imbues marvels with their character and power, making them at once enigmatic, creative, and resonant. Skirting the distinction between the real and unreal, these marvels challenge readers to discover the highest capabilities of both nature and the human intellect. Karnes offers a rare comparative perspective and a new methodology to study a topic long recognized as central to medieval culture.
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Yes, you can access Medieval Marvels and Fictions in the Latin West and Islamic World by Michelle Karnes in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Folklore & Mythic Literary Criticism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Publisher
University of Chicago PressYear
2022Print ISBN
9780226819754, 9780226819747eBook ISBN
9780226819761Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Note to the Reader
- Introduction
- chapter 1Â Marvels and the Philosophy of Imagination: True Dreams, Prophecy, and Possession
- chapter 2Â Marvels and the Philosophy of Imagination: Bewitchment, Telekinesis, and the Moving of Mountains
- chapter 3Â Philosophersâ Fables
- chapter 4Â Imaginative Geography
- chapter 5Â Marvelous Trials
- chapter 6Â Mutatis Mirabilibus
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
- Footnotes