Imagination and Fantasy in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time: Projections, Dreams, Monsters, and Illusions: 24 (Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture, 24) - Hardcover

Classen, Albrecht

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3110692945 ISBN 13: 9783110692945

Publisher: De Gruyter, 2020

Synopsis

The notions of other peoples, cultures, and natural conditions have always been determined by the epistemology of imagination and fantasy, providing much freedom and creativity, and yet have also created much fear, anxiety, and horror. In this regard, the pre-modern world demonstrates striking parallels with our own insofar as the projections of alterity might be different by degrees, but they are fundamentally the same by content. Dreams, illusions, projections, concepts, hopes, utopias/dystopias, desires, and emotional attachments are as specific and impactful as the physical environment. This volume thus sheds important light on the various lenses used by people in the Middle Ages and the early modern age as to how they came to terms with their perceptions, images, and notions. Previous scholarship focused heavily on the history of mentality and history of emotions, whereas here the history of pre-modern imagination, and fantasy assumes center position. Imaginary things are taken seriously because medieval and early modern writers and artists clearly reveal their great significance in their works and their daily lives. This approach facilitates a new deep-structure analysis of pre-modern culture.

About this title

About the Author

Albrecht Classen, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.

From the Back Cover

Cultural history cannot operate without the acknowledgment of the world of imagination and fantasy. Philosophy, theology, literature, the visual arts, and even the sciences and medicine depend heavily on the capacity of the human mind to imagine and fantasize, as the constant developments throughout time have indicated. This volume investigates medieval and early modern concepts of alternative dimensions that were actually as 'real' as the material existence, proving to be an essential driving force in all of human culture.

Edition details

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3110692945
• ISBN 13: 9783110692945
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 807