Claustrophilia: The Erotics of Enclosure in Medieval Literature (The New Middle Ages)

Through extended readings of English, French, and Italian writers of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth centuries, Claustrophilia shows that medieval enclosures actually make room for desires and communities that a poetics of pure openness would exclude. "In this book, Abraham argues that a theological imagination can expand the contours of postcolonial theory through a reexamination of notions of subjectivity, gender, and violence in a dialogical model with Karl Rahner. She raises the question of whether postcolonial theory, with its disavowal of religious agency, can provide an invigorating occasion for Catholic theology"--Provided by publisher Cover 1 CLAUSTROPHILIA THE EROTICS OF ENCLOSURE IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE 6 CONTENTS 10 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction 14 1 The Edge Of Enclosure 24 2 The Verge Of The Visible 50 3 Spaced Out 82 4 Lyric Enclosures 115 5 Nothing Between 135 Introduction 142 Notes 156 Works Cited 185 Index 194