Routledge Fecal Matters in Early Modern Literature and Art - Scatology Studies

This scholarly collection explores the surprisingly central role of scatological references in Early Modern European literature and art, examining how educated intellectuals and artists of the period engaged with bodily waste functions and elimination in their works. The volume addresses a notable gap in academic study by bringing together essays that analyse the many forms and functions of scatology - the representation of waste products and bodily elimination - across diverse cultural texts and artistic contexts. Contributors investigate how scatological rhetoric appears throughout Early Modern creative output, revealing the sophisticated ways that historical writers and artists employed these references. Part of the Studies in European Cultural Transition series published by Routledge, this book provides essential insight into how our predecessors approached bodily functions with intellectual rigour and creative purpose, contrasting sharply with modern attitudes of avoidance and disgust.