Difference between revisions of "François Rabelais"
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Some of the topics explored by Rabelais were controversial, and only the support of influential patrons preserved him from severe ecclesiastical censure during his lifetime; the third and fourth books of Gargantua and Pantagruel were both banned at times. The adjective, Rabelaisian, from his name, describes something that is in the style of his writings: containing an abundance of coarse humor, extravagant language and keen satire. | Some of the topics explored by Rabelais were controversial, and only the support of influential patrons preserved him from severe ecclesiastical censure during his lifetime; the third and fourth books of Gargantua and Pantagruel were both banned at times. The adjective, Rabelaisian, from his name, describes something that is in the style of his writings: containing an abundance of coarse humor, extravagant language and keen satire. | ||
| − | The works of Rabelais were the subject of study by the Russian cultural theorist M. M. Bakhtin (1885-1975), who derived two major concepts from "Gargantua and Pantagruel": that of the [[carnivalesque]], mocking authority through proletarian laughter; and of the [[grotesque body]], seeing the greatest reality in the portrayal of bodily functions, principally sexual and excretory. The emphasis on anti-authoritarianism | + | The works of Rabelais were the subject of study by the Russian cultural theorist M. M. Bakhtin (1885-1975), who derived two major concepts from "Gargantua and Pantagruel": that of the [[carnivalesque]], mocking authority through proletarian laughter; and of the [[grotesque body]], seeing the greatest reality in the portrayal of bodily functions, principally sexual and excretory. The emphasis on anti-authoritarianism may explain why his work on the subject, ''Rabelais and his World'', while submitted as a PhD thesis in the early 1940s, was not passed for a doctorate and was only published in the post-Stalinist (relative) thaw of 1965; though it is quite possible that Bakhtin, who [[smoking|smoked]] the only manuscript of his study of the German novel during the battle of [[Stalingrad]]<ref>http://www.mclemee.com/id91.html</ref> , did not consider publication a matter of any urgency. |
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Revision as of 23:43, April 28, 2007
Francois Rabelais (1483-1553) was a important French writer and satirist.
His most important work was the five book Gargantua and Pantagruel [1]; however it is unclear whether all of the fifth book was written by Rabelais himself. Within, although some chapters consist entirely of lists of vulgarities, a number of political and religious themes are considered, amongst them being:
- Proper methods of education. (Book 1)
- The Abbey of Theleme - a Utopian monastery, wherein customs were the exact opposite of the solemn, austere and strictly-regulated ones followed in typical monastic environments, and the primary commandment was "Do what thou wilt." (Book 1)
- The absurdities of the legal system, and how the only way to finally resolve a dispute is to drag it out until both parties are sick of it. (Books 2, 5)
- Methods of divination (Book 3)
- Reasons for and against marriage. (Books 4-5)
Some of the topics explored by Rabelais were controversial, and only the support of influential patrons preserved him from severe ecclesiastical censure during his lifetime; the third and fourth books of Gargantua and Pantagruel were both banned at times. The adjective, Rabelaisian, from his name, describes something that is in the style of his writings: containing an abundance of coarse humor, extravagant language and keen satire.
The works of Rabelais were the subject of study by the Russian cultural theorist M. M. Bakhtin (1885-1975), who derived two major concepts from "Gargantua and Pantagruel": that of the carnivalesque, mocking authority through proletarian laughter; and of the grotesque body, seeing the greatest reality in the portrayal of bodily functions, principally sexual and excretory. The emphasis on anti-authoritarianism may explain why his work on the subject, Rabelais and his World, while submitted as a PhD thesis in the early 1940s, was not passed for a doctorate and was only published in the post-Stalinist (relative) thaw of 1965; though it is quite possible that Bakhtin, who smoked the only manuscript of his study of the German novel during the battle of Stalingrad[2] , did not consider publication a matter of any urgency.
References
- ↑ http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1200 Text of Gargantua and Pantagruel at Project Gutenberg.
- ↑ http://www.mclemee.com/id91.html
- ↑ http://www.conservapedia.com/World_History_Lecture_Seven