The Dramatic Flyting and the Gothic Grotesque

FAIN: FB-13192-77

Carol M. Cochran
University of Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM 87110)

To study the dramatic flyting (battle of abusive wit) and its relation to the comic spirit of the Gothic grotesque. Both flytings and the grotesque spirit seem to contain a primitive confrontation --for example, between affirmation and negation. PI will investigate the mechanics of the insult, the possible aggressive and regressive elements associated with theories of laughter, cultural analogues of the dramatic flyting (as for example, the Mummer's Play), and the spirit of the Gothic grotesque in its other manifestations--art, music, architecture, literature, festival.