In:
The Medieval History Journal, SAGE Publications, Vol. 5, No. 2 ( 2002-10), p. 195-222
Abstract:
This essay argues that the monstrous peoples depicted on the edge of the œcumene in medieval maps of the world are not the expression of a medieval preference for the bizarre or fantastic, or the reflection of a mythically oriented consciousness. Rather, they need to be ap proached as a genuine confrontation with the strange or the alien. Drawing on insights from sociological theory, the essay suggests that as liminal figures, the monstra articulate a transcendence inherent in strangeness; at the same time they help define the borders ofgenus humanum, hence in the end to define what is one's own.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0971-9458
,
0973-0753
DOI:
10.1177/097194580200500202
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2002
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2211921-8
SSG:
6,24
SSG:
8