Waste Studies: A Brief Introduction

Abstract

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the so-called great renunciation took place in men’s clothing, whereby male attire shed the ornate design that had held sway since the High Middle Ages. In a parallel plot of history, the Middle Ags has been viewed as a period revelling in filth, prior to the “great enunciation” of filth with the adven of the early modern period. The d anger for a medievalist in exploring excrement lies in confirming what ome believe to be the essence of the Middle Ages: filth. A long study of such a topic might therefore be exected to underscore the very alterity and abject nature some ascribe to the period. Filth, as we have seen, is key to understanding the Middle Ages; it appears liberally in literary texts, legal documents, theological writings, and art historical material. But this book is not intended to reinforce a popular view of the Middle Ages as “excremental” nor is it intended to offend. Rather, my hope is that other scholars will continue to expand our knowledge of the excremental. Much work remains to be done: relic inventories could be investigated for references to waste as sacred and venerated object;2 historical documents citing cases of pollution and property need to be paid attention to; and further explorations into the vast range of linguistic possibilities for expressing filth and excrement could be undertaken.KeywordsHuman WasteEarly Modern PeriodSocial BodyCanterbury TaleMedieval StudyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.