Cultures of Compunction in the Medieval World

About the Author Andrew B.R. Elliott is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Lincoln, UK, where he works on the representation of history in film, television and video games. He has published a range of articles and essays on historical film, television and video games from the classical world to the present. He is the author of Remaking the Middle Ages (2010), which analyses medieval cinema, and he is the editor of Playing with the Past (2013; co-edited with Matthew Wilhelm Kapell), which examines the depiction of the past in video games, and The Return of the Epic Film (2014), which examines the return of the sword and sandals epic in the cinema. His latest book, Medievalism, Politics, and Mass Media (2017), explores the uses of the past in social media and mainstream news reporting.Helen Young is Lecturer in Writing and Literature at Deakin University, Australia. She is the author of Race and Popular Fantasy Literature: Habits of Whiteness (2015) and Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones (2015). Product Description Compunction was one of the most important emotions for medieval Christianity; in fact, through its confessional function, compunction became the primary means for an affective sinner to gain redemption. Cultures of Compunction in the Medieval World explores how such emotion could be expressed, experienced and performed in medieval European society. Using a range of disciplinary approaches – including history, philosophy, art history, literary studies, performance studies and linguistics – this book examines how and why emotions which now form the bedrock of modern western culture were idealized in the Middle Ages. By bringing together expertise across disciplines and medieval languages, this important book demonstrates the ubiquity and impact of compunction for medieval life and makes wider connections between devotional, secular and quotidian areas of experience. Review “Ranging far geographically, temporally, and methodologically, this illuminating book demonstrates the varied roles compunction played not only in the languages, gestures, and feelings of medieval devotion but also in the conceptions and practices of its daily life.” ―Barbara H. Rosenwein, Professor Emerita, Loyola University Chicago, USA“This fascinating re-examination of the strategies by which compunction is understood and expressed in the medieval arts provides comprehensive exploration of its subject that will appeal to anyone with an interest in emotions scholarship, whatever their discipline.” ―Frances McCormack, School of English and Creative Arts, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland