Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • 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
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  • Author's Affiliation: Vassar College
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1990.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00358118