Arts of Dying: Literature and Finitude in Medieval England

by D. Vance Smith

People in the Middle Ages had chantry chapels, mortuary rolls, the daily observance of the Office of the Dead, and even purgatory--but they were still unable to talk about death. Their inability wasn't due to religion, but philosophy: saying someone is dead is nonsense, as the person no longer is. The one thing that can talk about something that is not, as D. Vance Smith shows in this innovative, provocative book, is literature.

Covering the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 022664099X
• ISBN13: 9780226640990
• Release Date: April 2020
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"