Dreaming of Cockaigne : Medieval Fantasies of the Perfect Life

Cockaigne: portrayed in legend, oral history, and art, this imaginary land became the most pervasive collective dream of medieval times—an earthly paradise to counter the suffering and frustration of daily existence and to quell anxieties over an ever-more-exclusive heavenly afterlife. Imagine a dreamland where roasted pigs wander about with knives in their backs to make carving easy, where grilled geese fly directly into one's mouth, where cooked fish jump out of the water and land at one's feet. The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth. Such is Cockaigne. Portrayed in legend, oral history, and art, this imaginary land became the most pervasive collective dream of medieval times-an earthly paradise that served to counter the suffering and frustration of daily existence and to allay anxieties about an increasingly elusive heavenly paradise. Illustrated with extraordinary artwork from the Middle Ages, Herman Pleij's __Dreaming of Cockaigne__ is a spirited account of this lost paradise and the world that brought it to life. Pleij takes three important texts as his starting points for an inspired of the panorama of ideas, dreams, popular religion, and literary and artistic creation present in the late Middle Ages. What emerges is a well-defined picture of the era, furnished with a wealth of detail from all of Europe, as well as Asia and America. Pleij draws upon his thorough knowledge of medieval European literature, art, history, and folklore to describe the fantasies that fed the tales of Cockaigne and their connections to the central obsessions of medieval life. Annotation Struggling to create an identity distinct from the European tradition but lacking an established system of support, early painting in America received little cultural acceptance in its own country or abroad. Yet despite the initial indifference with which it was first met, American art flourished against the odds and founded the aesthetic consciousness that we equate with American art today. In this exhilarating study David Rosand shows how early American painters transformed themselves from provincial followers of the established traditions of Europe into some of the most innovative and influential artists in the world. Moving beyond simple descriptions of what distinguishes American art from other movements and forms, The Invention of Painting in America explores not only the status of artists and their personal relationship to their work but also the larger dialogue between the artist and society. Rosand looks to the intensely studied portraits of America's early painters -- especially Copley and Eakins and the landscapes of Homer and Inness, among others -- each of whom grappled with conflicting cultural attitudes and different expressive styles in order to reinvent the art of painting. He discusses the work of Davis, Gorky, de Kooning, Pollock, Rothko, and Motherwell and the subjects and themes that engaged them. While our current understanding of America's place in art is largely based on the astonishing success of a handful of mid-twentieth-century painters, Rosand unearths the historical and artistic conditions that both shaped and inspired the phenomenon of Abstract Expressionism Contents List of Illustrations Part 1 The Forfeiture of Happiness; The Beginning 1. Paradise Lost 2. Contours of a Book 3. The Power of Literature Part 2 Texts as Maps 4. Rhyming Texts L and B, Prose Text G 5. The Two Rhyming Texts on the Land of Cockaigne 6. Recitation and Writing 7. Oral Structures in Writing 8. The Existing Potential 9. The Prose Text on Luilekkerland Part 3 Eating to Forget 10. Eating Habits 11. Hunger and Scarcity 12. The Topos of Hunger 13. The Intoxicating Effect of Fasting 14. Gorging in Self-Defense 15. Food in Motion 16. Literary Refreshment Part 4 Paradise Refurbished 17. The Land of Cockaigne as Paradise 18. Never Say Die 19. Heavenly Rewards 20. Other Paradises 21. Lovely Places, Golden Ages 22. Wonder Gardens and Pleasure Parks 23. Dreams of Immortality Part 5 The Imagination Journeys Forth 24. Geographical Musings 25. Real Dreamworlds 26. Wonders of East and West 27. Fanciful Destinations 28. Virtual Dreamlands Part 6 Heretical Excesses 29. The Thousand-Year Reign of Peace and Prosperity 30. Heresies of the Free Spirit 31. Sex Adam-and-Eve Style 32. Low-Country Heterodoxy Part 7 Learning as a Matter of Survival 33. Didactic Differences 34. Topsy-Turvy Worlds 35. Hard Times 36. Moderation, Ambition, and Decorum 37. Lessons in Pragmatism Part 8 Dreaming of Cockaigne: The End 38. The Name Cockaigne 39. A Depreciated Cultural Asset 40. From Countryside to Town 41. The Necessity of Fiction Appendixes 1. Middle Dutch Rhyming Texts on Cockaigne 2. Dutch Prose Text of 1546 on Luilekkerland 3. Dutch Poems Appearing in English Translation Sources Bibliography Index "Imagine a dreamland where roasted pigs wander about with knives in their backs to make carving easy, where grilled geese fly directly into one's mouth, where cooked fish jump out of the water and land at one's feet. The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth. Such is Cockaigne. Portrayed in legend, oral history, and art, this imaginary land became the most pervasive collective dream of medieval times--an earthly paradise that served to counter the suffering and frustration of daily existence and to allay anxieties about an increasingly elusive heavenly paradise. Illustrated with extraordinary artwork from the Middle Ages, Herman Pleij's Dreaming of Cockaigne is a spirited account of this lost paradise and the world that brought it to life. Pleij takes three important texts as his starting points for an inspired of the panorama of ideas, dreams, popular religion, and literary and artistic creation present in the late Middle Ages. What emerges is a well-defined picture of the era, furnished with a wealth of detail from all of Europe, as well as Asia and America."-- Provided by publisher "Imagine a dreamland on earth where roasted pigs toddle about with knives in their backs to make carving easy; where grilled geese fly directly into one's open mouth; where cooked fish jump out of the water at one's feet. The weather is always temperate, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all stay forever young.". "Such is Cockaigne. Portrayed in legend, oral history, and art, this imaginary land became the most pervasive collective dream of medieval times - an earthly paradise to counter the suffering and frustration of daily existence and to quell anxieties over an ever-more-exclusive heavenly afterlife.". "Illustrated with artwork from the Middle Ages, Hermen Pleij's Dreaming of Cockaigne is an account of this "lost paradise" and the world that brought it to life. Pleij takes three important texts as his starting point for an inspired sketch of the panorama of ideas, dreams, popular religion, and literary and artistic creation present in the late Middle Ages. What emerges is a finely differentiated picture of the era, formed and fitted with details from across Europe and from Asia and America, as well."--BOOK JACKET.