Revolting anatomy in the Farce nouvelle des cinq sens de l’homme

• Published in: Postmedieval a journal of medieval cultural studies Vol. 3; no. 4; pp. 436 - 449
• Main Author: Singer, Julie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01-12-2012; Palgrave Macmillan
• Subjects: Cultural and Media Studies; Digital Humanities; Disability; French language; Hearing; History of Medieval Europe; Language history; Literature; Medieval Literature; Museums; Prostheses; Sensory systems
• ISSN: 2040-5960; 2040-5979
• DOI: 10.1057/pmed.2012.34

The late medieval French
Farce nouvelle des cinq sens de l’homme
stages Man served by his deconstructed sense organs. The harmonious integration of part and whole is disrupted by the filthy Cul (Asshole) who, stymied in his effort to infiltrate the ranks of the five senses, gives the Man indigestion before locking himself in the lavatory. The disintegration of the body, and its reconfiguration according to a new sensory hierarchy, are accomplished through a series of disabling gestures. In this text that repeatedly undermines the legitimacy of the traditional hierarchy of the senses, the Asshole assumes a position of prime importance, the ‘lower’ senses take on the intimate tasks of washing and scratching him whenever he pleases, and sight and hearing are, by the end of the farce, effectively marginalized. Only by stigmatizing Man's five senses can the revolting Cul reign supreme.