The Fury of Men's Gullets: Ben Jonson and the Digestive Canal.

Boehrer, Bruce Thomas:

ISBN 10: 0812234081 / ISBN 13: 9780812234084

Published by Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997

About this Item

X; 238 p. From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - - Small abrasions on the dustjacket. Otherwise good and clean. - Schutzumschlag leicht berieben. Sonst gut und sauber. - Throughout his work, Ben Jonson referred -JL to writing in terms of ingestion, digestion, and excretion, mimicking the functions of the digestive tract. In The Fury of Men s Gullets, Bruce Boehrer explores the poet s fascination with alimentary matters and the way in which such references describe Jonson s personal and cultural transformation. Drawing on the theoretical work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, the author studies the alimentary and convivial language in Jonson s work. He suggests that these pervasive metaphors provided the poet with a vocabulary for addressing issues of patronage and friendship, literary production and consumption, and social inclusion and exclusion. Boehrer demonstrates that Jonson s own biography reflects a kind of reverse digestion: whereas his childhood home was situated over a sewage canal, his career culminated in the royal banquet hall, where his masques entertained the court during meals. From dunghill to dining hallyjonson s life was one of constant transformation. Boehrer contends that the poet s preoccupation with food and digestion also reflected contemporary systems of ritual and regulation of dietary activities. Separate chapters concentrate on the protocols of dining in a culture that valued both moderation and excess; Jonson s language of table manners and its classical roots; his representation of the emergent literary profession as a digestive process; and his scatological writings, which mirrored social concern over public cleanli- I ness, waste disposal, and sanitation. In his wide-ranging examination of Jonson s plays, prose, and nondramatic verse, Boehrer discusses the sociohistorical significance of food, the politics of conspicuous consumption, the infrastructure of Jacobean London, and pertinent aspects of Renaissance medical practice and physiological theory. The Fury of Men s Gullets uniquely interprets Jonson s | construction of early modern English literary sensibility. BRUCE THOMAS BOEHRER is Associate Professor in the Department of English at Florida State University. He is the author of Monarchy and Incest in Renaissance England, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812234084 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 554 Original cloth with dustjacket. Originalleinen mit Schutzumschlag.

Seller Inventory # 1186743

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Fury of Men's Gullets: Ben Jonson and the Digestive Canal.
• Publisher: Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0812234081
• ISBN 13: 9780812234084
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Gut
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Weight: 554 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literaturwissenschaft

About this title

Synopsis

In The Fury of Men's Gullets, Bruce Boehrer explores the poet's fascination with alimentary matters and the ways in which such references describe Jonson's personal and cultural transformation. In his wide-ranging examination of Jonson's plays, prose, and nondramatic verse, Boehrer discusses the sociohistorical significance of food, the politics of conspicuous consumption, the infrastructure of Jacobean London, and pertinent aspects of Renaissance medical practice and physiological theory. The Fury of Men's Gullets uniquely interprets Jonson's construction of early modern English literary sensibility.

About the Author

Bruce Thomas Boehrer is Bertram H. Davis Professor of English at Florida State University. A life-long parrot fancier, he is the author of Parrot Culture: Our 2500-Year-Long Fascination with the World's Most Talkative Bird and The Fury of Men's Gullets: Ben Jonson and the Digestive Canal, both available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.