Week7_2/25/16_Medieval

“Medieval man shared many ignorances with the savage, and some of his beliefs may suggest savage parallels to an anthropologist.”

“The most characteristically medieval thought does not arise in that way.”

“What both examples illustrate is the overwhelmingly bookish or clerkly character of medieval culture.”

“Medieval love-poetry may owe something to barbarian manners. Ballads, till a very late period, may throw up fragments of prehistoric (if it is not perennial) folklore.”

Lewis, C. S. The Discarded Image. London: Bentley House, 1964. Web.

       The word medieval is used throughout the book by C. S. Lewis. The Oxford English Dictionary denotation of the word is “Of or relating to a period of time intervening between (periods designated as) ancient and modern; spec. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Middle Ages. Also, of art, religion, etc.: resembling or imitative of that of the Middle Ages.” That is the literal meaning of the word, referring to the Middle Ages, or when the Medieval times were really happening. There are connotations of the word as well. Medieval is also defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “humorous. Of a person: middle-aged. Obs. rare.” Using the word as if it meant something humorous. The OED uses this sentence, “U.S. to get medieval: to use violence or extreme measures on, to become aggressive,” to refer back to the Medieval Ages. This sentence makes the word medieval seem very barbaric, almost as if the people of the Middle Ages were savages. Bringing up the discussion we talked about during class, throughout the entire book, C.S. Lewis uses the words savage and barbaric a lot, and the meanings are different than what we would expect. C.S. Lewis writes this book with his audience in mind because he assumes we know what the meaning of savage and barbaric are, therefore making us look stupid. C.S. Lewis synthesizes for people of medieval times, because they are misunderstood. People think that they are savage and barbaric, and are not capable of thinking, because they believe in all these “silly” ideas such as fairies and mythical creatures. I think C.S. Lewis does the same thing with the word medieval.

       C.S. Lewis uses the word medieval as if we know the meaning of it, and most of us know the denotation of the word being a reference to a part of history. Throughout the book, I think he uses medieval interchangeably. He uses the word medieval in a different context to almost throw us off. In one of the quotations above, he ties “medieval love-poetry” to “barbaric matters.” I think Lewis uses the word medieval because he is referring back to the Middle Ages. He is referring to historical context, and a certain time period. Lewis also uses the word medieval because he knows that the audience knows the meaning. He knows the definition we know, but he uses other connotations of the word. Looking at the text, medieval is used differently in different contexts. For example, in the text n pg.8. “It may perhaps be held that the barbarian legacy is not really less, but only less flaunted and more disguised; even that it is all the more potent for being secret. This might be true as regards the romances and ballads. We must therefore ask how far, or rather what sense, these are characteristically medieval products.” Personally, I think that C.S. Lewis uses medieval the way he does in that quote because he is trying to show us, the audience, that the medieval legacy is being tied with the barbaric legacy, and that they go hand in hand.

       Overall, the denotation of the word medieval is very well known amongst everyone. People may perceive the definition differently, because it can be referred to as a barbaric time in history, or how most people see it as the fairytale, happily ever after deal. The word is used interchangeably and Lewis does that on purpose.