Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
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Record Number:
9883
Author(s)/Creator(s):
Ahern , John.
Contributor(s):
Title:
Nudi Grammantes: The Grammar and Rhetoric of Deviation in Inferno XV [Male genitalia have a complex range of metaphorical meanings. Certain writers in the medieval rhetorical tradition align sexuality and rhetoric, comparing forms unorthodox sexuality (like sodomy) with perversions of language. Most notably, Brunetto Latini, a grammarian and sodomite who appears in the Inferno, uses a series of puns involving the word “fico” (fig or tree), confusing the word’s natural (biological) and grammatical gender. In Latin and Italian, this word (meaning both tree and fruit) could metaphorically stand for either the male or the female sexual organs. Brunetto’s learned yet ambiguous use of language thus suggests his own sexual deviancy. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
Source:
Romanic Review 81, 4 ( 1990): Pages 466 - 486.
Description:
Article Type:
Journal Article
Subject
(See Also)
:
Alain de Lille, Author- De Planctu Naturae
Classical Influences
Dante Alighieri, Poet- Divina Comedia- Inferno
Genitals, Display of
Grammar
Homosexuality in Literature
Latin Language
Literature- Verse
Masculinity in Literature
Metaphor
Metonymy
Nude in Li
Award Note:
Geographic Area:
Italy
Century:
13
Primary Evidence:
Illustrations:
Table:
Abstract:
Related Resources:
Author's Affiliation:
Vassar College
Conference Info:
- , -
Year of Publication:
1990.
Language:
English
ISSN/ISBN:
00358118