I suppose this post is really a little off topic. But I found it so odd and striking that I had to share.
I'm reading an article by Gale Owen-Crocker titled "Horror in Beowulf: Mutilation, Decapitation, and the Unburied Dead" published in a festschrift for Don Scragg. In the midst of this article, making a point that having a decapitated head paraded around the hall would be a bit of a shocker for the audience within and without the poem, the author remarks on modern audiences' desensitization to such extreme violence. She then illustrates this point by citing the parody of such extreme violence and our immunization to it by referring to South Park and Kenny's frequent deaths by often horrific means. "Oh my God, they killed Kenny" and Grendel in the same sentence...if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.
4 comments:
Larry, could you post the reference? That sounds like an article that might be good for my undergrads...
Sure: Gale Owen-Cocker. "Horror in Beowulf: Mutilation, Decapitation, and the Unburied Dead" in Early Medieval English Texts and Interpretations: Studies Presented to Donald G. Scragg. Ed. Elaine Treharne and Susan Rosser. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 252. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2002. 81-100.
I've been trying to find a copy of this to use with my seniors in class. Any more insight as to where I can obtain it off the web. Thanks so much! I would really appreciate it:)
Anything to make Beowulf more interesting for 17 year olds is always helpful.
Where can I obtain this from the web? I would like to use it with my seniors.
Post a Comment