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Representing Idiocy and Intellectual Disability in Early Modern English Literature, 1500-1640

Objective

My project will consider several examples of natural or artificial fools, clowns, idiots portrayed in the literary production of England from 1500 to 1640 and will investigate how early modern notions of intellectual deficiency primarily in medicine but also in society shaped the creation of those same figures. My literary corpus will include not only dramatic texts but also jestbooks, which notably offer a wealth of information on real or fantastic fools of the time, and poetical works. Folly in the sense of lack of wit, rather than the loss of it – which is the definition of madness – will be my primary focus. While the theme of madness in connection with early modern literature has been explored at length, the same cannot be said for cognitive disability or lack of intelligence. The main reason for this is that only recently have a small number of scholars started to discuss and bring together historical, medical and legal notions of natural folly in the early modern period. In the past, remarkable attempts at historicizing natural folly have bordered into discourses on madness and analogue mental disorders thus blurring the difference between the two conditions, the same difference that Renaissance legislation actually sought to define. In the wake of very recent trends in disability studies, therefore, I will use legal but especially medical theories of foolishness and idiocy to explore the characters of my corpus and to highlight, on a scientific and social basis, their separate nature from those conceived of as lunatics. Furthermore, because the exploration of intellectual disability in my period of interest is relatively a new field, I expect to find in the fools of my corpus hints to theories or assumptions that have not been discussed yet.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2016

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Coordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 183 454,80
Address
SUSSEX HOUSE FALMER
BN1 9RH BRIGHTON
United Kingdom

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Region
South East (England) Surrey, East and West Sussex Brighton and Hove
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 183 454,80
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