Dreaming of Cockaigne: Medieval Fantasies of the Perfect Life [NOOK Book]

Be the first to write a review

Overview

Imagine a dreamland where roasted pigs wander about with knives in their backs to make carving easy, where grilled geese fly directly into one's mouth, where cooked fish jump out of the water and land at one's feet. The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth.

Such is Cockaigne. Portrayed in legend, oral history, and art, this imaginary land became the most pervasive ...
See more details below
Dreaming of Cockaigne: Medieval Fantasies of the Perfect Life

Available on NOOK devices and apps  
  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK for Windows 8
  • NOOK for PC
  • NOOK for Mac
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for Web

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

NOOK Book (eBook)
$17.59
BN.com price
(Save 45%)$31.99 List Price

More About This Book

Overview

Imagine a dreamland where roasted pigs wander about with knives in their backs to make carving easy, where grilled geese fly directly into one's mouth, where cooked fish jump out of the water and land at one's feet. The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth.

Such is Cockaigne. Portrayed in legend, oral history, and art, this imaginary land became the most pervasive collective dream of medieval times-an earthly paradise that served to counter the suffering and frustration of daily existence and to allay anxieties about an increasingly elusive heavenly paradise.

Illustrated with extraordinary artwork from the Middle Ages, Herman Pleij's Dreaming of Cockaigne is a spirited account of this lost paradise and the world that brought it to life. Pleij takes three important texts as his starting points for an inspired of the panorama of ideas, dreams, popular religion, and literary and artistic creation present in the late Middle Ages. What emerges is a well-defined picture of the era, furnished with a wealth of detail from all of Europe, as well as Asia and America.

Pleij draws upon his thorough knowledge of medieval European literature, art, history, and folklore to describe the fantasies that fed the tales of Cockaigne and their connections to the central obsessions of medieval life.
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Like Atlantis and El Dorado, the land of Cockaigne was a fictional utopia, a place where idleness (money could be earned even while one slept) and gluttony (buildings and roads were made of food just waiting to be devoured) were the principal occupations. Grounded in peasant culture, Cockaigne was never taken seriously by medieval men and women but offered a way to cope with immediate concerns of famine and backbreaking work, as well as more monumental fears about heaven and the New World recently opened up by European adventurers. Over time, as control over the food supply increased and a more modern work ethic became established, these fears diminished, and stories about Cockaigne faded away. This work is a serious and even ponderous scholarly study based on two Dutch manuscripts that the author, a lecturer in Dutch historical literature at the University of Amsterdam, subjects to rigorous textual, paleographical and stylistic analysis before dealing with the importance of this fable for medieval men and women. He also examines medieval perceptions of original sin, paradise and the New World by looking at many examples of period art, including woodcuts, engravings and paintings. Despite such interesting points as that modern-day supermarkets' unlimited abundance and vacation packages promising paradise on earth have succeeded in making this mythical land a reality, Pleij's book will be of interest primarily to professionals in late medieval literature. Illus. (May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Booknews
Kudos to Diane Webb for her superb translation of Pleij's fascinating work on the Dutch mythical land of Cockaigne, a land where food jumps in one's mouth unbidden and the rivers flow with wine and beer. Pleij (Dutch historical literature, U. of Amsterdam) winds through the vast, recurring literature on the land of Cockaigne and ventures from the stories to their relevance to late medieval life, its religion, literature, mores, expectations, humor, and the harsh realities that kept the mythical paradise a popular dream. This book will appeal to the general reader as well as those interested in late medieval Holland, a land Pleij shows us is not so different from our own. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Choice
A very useful study, published with high production values, this book is distinguished by the huge amount of information it contains, clear organization, accessibility (thanks to Webb's fine translation...) and the array of artwork included... The book is an excellent example of the scholarly benefits of concentration on primary sources.
NRC Handelsblad
Following in the footsteps of Huizinga, Pleij makes a daring attempt to provide a complete picture of medieval life in the Netherlands. The result is a rich, at times cinematic, panorama of dreams and reality in the Middle Ages.
The New Republic
[A] remarkable book, a scholarly and sumptuous discussion of once-upon-a-time fantasies of the perfect life... rich, learned, witty, and admirably readable.
The Guardian
[A] compelling account of the experiences and beliefs of the middle ages.... Pleij's analyses extract much poignancy from material that may initially seem merely whimsical.
Financial Times
In this entertaining book [Pleij] trawls the medieval Cockaigne literature, partly to display its riches of fantasy and absurdity, and partly to investigate its purposes... There is an abundance of funny and striking information in Pleij's book, and its broad liberal sensibility rests on solid foundations of scholarship.
Speculum
[A]nything Pleij writes in his native Dutch is a joy to read. Diane Webb's exrtemely smooth translation does proper justice to Pleij's prose, and her renditions of the Middle Dutch texts that form the core of this study deserve high praise. In sum, if Huizinga is truly the founder of Dutch cultural studies, then Pleij has demonstrated with this book that he is a worthy successor to the same cause.

— David F. Johnson

Speculum - David F. Johnson
[A]nything Pleij writes in his native Dutch is a joy to read. Diane Webb's exrtemely smooth translation does proper justice to Pleij's prose, and her renditions of the Middle Dutch texts that form the core of this study deserve high praise. In sum, if Huizinga is truly the founder of Dutch cultural studies, then Pleij has demonstrated with this book that he is a worthy successor to the same cause.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780231529211
  • Publisher: Columbia University Press
  • Publication date: 4/30/2001
  • Series: NONE
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 544
  • File size: 48 MB
  • Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

Meet the Author

Herman Pleij lectures on Dutch historical literature at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of the Dutch best-seller Het Gilde van de Blauwe Schuit(The guild of the blue barge), an account of the rituals surrounding the celebration of Carnival in the Middle Ages, and the critically acclaimed book De sneeuwpoppen van 1511(The snowmen of 1511), a lively study of the rise of urban culture and middle-class morality in the southern Netherlands of the late Middle Ages.

Read More Show Less

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Pt. 1 The Forfeiture of Happiness: The Beginning
1 Paradise Lost 3
2 Contours of a Book 13
3 The Power of Literature 28
Pt. 2 Texts as Maps
4 Rhyming Texts L and B, Prose Text G 33
5 The Two Rhyming Texts on the Land of Cockaigne 45
6 Recitation and Writing 55
7 Oral Structures in Writing 62
8 The Existing Potential 73
9 The Prose Text on Luilekkerland 77
Pt. 3 Eating to Forget
10 Eating Habits 89
11 Hunger and Scarcity 100
12 The Topos of Hunger 107
13 The Intoxicating Effect of Fasting 118
14 Gorging in Self-Defense 128
15 Food in Motion 137
16 Literary Refreshment 147
Pt. 4 Paradise Refurbished
17 The Land of Cockaigne as Paradise 165
18 Never Say Die 182
19 Heavenly Rewards 191
20 Other Paradises 207
21 Lovely Places, Golden Ages 216
22 Wonder Gardens and Pleasure Parks 230
23 Dreams of Immortality 236
Pt. 5 The Imagination Journeys Forth
24 Geographical Musings 245
25 Real Dreamworlds 255
26 Wonders of East and West 263
27 Fanciful Destinations 281
28 Virtual Dreamlands 289
Pt. 6 Heretical Excesses
29 The Thousand-Year Reign of Peace and Prosperity 301
30 Heresies of the Free Spirit 311
31 Sex Adam-and-Eve Style 318
32 Low-Country Heterodoxy 325
Pt. 7 Learning as a Matter of Survival
33 Didactic Differences 337
34 Topsy-Turvy Worlds 352
35 Hard Times 365
36 Moderation, Ambition, and Decorum 372
37 Lessons in Pragmatism 384
Pt. 8 Dreaming of Cockaigne: The End
38 The Name Cockaigne 391
39 A Depreciated Cultural Asset 403
40 From Countryside to Town 413
41 The Necessity of Fiction 423
App. 1 Middle Dutch Rhyming Texts on Cockaigne 431
App. 2 Dutch Prose Text of 1546 on Luilekkerland 438
App. 3 Dutch Poems Appearing in English Translation 443
Sources 451
Bibliography 489
Index 515
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)