Form and Foreskin: Medieval Narratives of Circumcision

by A. W. Strouse

Overview

Why did Saint Augustine ask God to “circumcise [his] lips”? Why does Sir Gawain cut off the Green Knight’s head on the Feast of the Circumcision? Is Chaucer’s Wife of Bath actually—as an early glossator figures her—a foreskin? And why did Ezra Pound claim that he had incubated The Waste Land inside of his uncut member? In this little book, A. W. Strouse excavates a poetics of the foreskin, uncovering how Patristic theologies of circumcision came to structure medieval European literary aesthetics. Following the writings of Saint Paul, “circumcision” and “uncircumcision” become key terms for theorizing language—especially the dichotomies between the mere text and its extended exegesis, between brevity and longwindedness, between wisdom and folly. Form and Foreskin looks to three works: a peculiar story by Saint Augustine about a boy with the long foreskin; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale. By examining literary scenes of cutting and stretching, Strouse exposes how Patristic treatments of circumcision queerly govern medieval poetics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823294749
Publisher:	Fordham University Press
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

A.W. Strouse is a poet and an adjunct professor of medieval literature, as well as the author of many scholarly articles, poems, and art projects.

Table of Contents

Introduction | 1

1. The Gospel According to the Foreskin | 11

2. Saint Augustine and the Boy with the Long Foreskin | 32

3. Nicking Sir Gawain | 50

4. The Foreskin of Marriage | 82

Coda | 103

Acknowledgments | 109
Notes | 111
Index | 151

Editorial Reviews

Form and Foreskin is, by any measure, an impressive monograph.

Speculum

...scholars from different areas may find this book both useful and enjoyable... Strouse manages to develop his argumentation with a vivid and enjoyable tone, making Form and Foreskin a pleasant read...

Anglia

Form & Foreskin is a delightful, intense, and pleasurable read. . . Strouse appeals to students and all readers, wanting to make them think deeply about these issues, and in the process they help make medieval literature deeply relevant to all our lives, to all our bodies. An exciting and joyful reading experience.

Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching

Form and Foreskin is accessible, fun, and provocative … Strouse’s linked, essay-like chapters engage wonderfully odd stories and include many incisive new analyses.

University of Victoria Adrienne Williams Boyarin

Strouse’s writing is simply delicious. I cannot recall the last time I laughed myself into tears while reading an academic book. The margins of my copy are peppered with such highbrow academic comments as ‘LOL’ and ‘I have died and gone to pun heaven.’ This playful read will certainly delight anyone interested in poetics, medieval narrative, and queer theology.—Jeannie Sellick, Theology & Sexuality

From the Publisher

Form and Foreskin is a new, original, and compelling experiment in close reading. Looking through the lens of circumcision at pastoral literature and poetry in Latin, Middle English and English, Strouse writes in a dynamic, engaging manner that will be of interest especially to scholars of Middle English literature and those who work on queer studies and studies of masculinity.

Miami University Anna M. Kłosowska

Form and Foreskin is accessible, fun, and provocative … Strouse’s linked, essay-like chapters engage wonderfully odd stories and include many incisive new analyses.

Universityof Victoria Adrienne Williams Boyarin

Form and Foreskin is a new, original, and compelling experiment in close reading. Looking through the lens of circumcision at pastoral literature and poetry in Latin, Middle English and English, Strouse writes in a dynamic, engaging manner that will be of interest especially to scholars of Middle English literature and those who work on queer studies and studies of masculinity.

Miami University Anna M. Kosowska