Abstract
Carnival and Corpus Christi Play, considered to be opposite extremes of medieval theatricality, cannot simply be divided according to their content, the one being seen as profane, the other as sacred. Focusing on the Nuremberg Vastnachtspiel vom Dreck and the series of extant German Corpus Christi plays, this essay rather argues that both forms partake in the same hyperbolic movement of representation by transforming the symbolic unity of myth and ritual. This happens either from the angle of the pointedly expressed word (iocus), set free from any ritual prescription, or from the angle of the gesture (ludus), no longer subjected to any illustrative function regarding mythical narratives. Against the backdrop of the tripartite Augustinian scheme of visionary epistemology (according to De Genesi ad Litteram) my analysis will show how both modalities, starting from their respective end of the theatrical spectrum, develop strategies in preparing mental and devotional attitudes toward the intellectual perception of God (ostensio Dei) by means of staging word or gesture (ostentatio).
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