The Cambridge Companion to Rabelais

An accessible, readable account of Rabelais, his work, his thought and his world.

John O'Brien (Edited by)

9780521867863, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 December 2010

192 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.2 cm, 0.43 kg

The Franciscan monk, humanist and physician François Rabelais, who flourished in sixteenth-century France, is widely considered as the Renaissance's greatest comic writer. His work - including most notably Gargantua and Pantagruel - continues to enthral readers with its complex and delicately crafted humour. 'Rabelaisian' and 'Gargantuan' have entered the lexicon but are often misunderstood; this Companion explains the literary and historical reality behind these notions. It provides an accessible account of Rabelais' major works and the contextual information and conceptual tools needed to understand the author and his world. The most up-to-date book on Rabelais to be designed specifically for English-speaking audiences, the Companion is intended to enable a broad spectrum of readers both to appreciate and to enjoy Rabelais. With a detailed guide to further reading and a chronology, and with all quotations given in translation, this is an ideal guide for students and scholars of French and comparative literature.

Chronology
1. Introduction John O'Brien
2. Reading the works of Rabelais Floyd Gray
3. Laughing with Rabelais, laughing at Rabelais Barbara C. Bowen
4. Interpretation in Rabelais, interpretation of Rabelais François Cornilliat
5. Making sense of intertextuality Neil Kenny
6. Pantagrueline humanism and Rabelaisian fiction Marie-Luce Demonet
7. Putting religion in its place Edwin Duval
8. Pantagruel and Gargantua: the political education of the King Ullrich Langer
9. Histories natural and unnatural Wes Williams
10. Reading and unravelling Rabelais through the ages Richard Cooper
Guide to further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literature: history & criticism [DS], Literature & literary studies [D]