Mirthful faces in The Name of the Rose

Louise D'Arcens

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-46413-3_4

Mirthful faces in The Name of the Rose

Louise D'Arcens^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of English

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

This paper explores the 'mirthful face' in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose and Jean-Jacques Annaud's film adaptation. Debates over the political and moral significance of the mirthful face are at the center of both texts' interpretations of laughter and humor in medieval culture; but the novel's withholding of facial description sits in stark contrast to the film's embrace of contemporary perceptions of what 'medieval faces' would have looked like and how they might be read. Comparing Annaud's visual language of 'historical physiognomy' with those of filmmakers Werner Hertzog and Michael Haneke, the essay situates both film and book within a latetwentieth- century use of the Middle Ages to comment on contemporary authoritarian and radical politics.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Facing up to the history of emotions
Editors	Stephanie Downes, Stephanie Trigg
Place of Publication	Cham, Switzerland
Publisher	Springer Nature
Chapter	4
Pages	51-66
Number of pages	16
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031464133
ISBN (Print)	9783031464126
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46413-3_4
Publication status	Published - 2024

Bibliographical note

First published Feb 2017 in postmedieval 8(1). DOI: 10.1057/s41280-016-0034-y

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-46413-3_4

Cite this

@inbook{8d3f3408e81e41cc8db663066176ab1f,

title = "Mirthful faces in The Name of the Rose",

abstract = "This paper explores the 'mirthful face' in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose and Jean-Jacques Annaud's film adaptation. Debates over the political and moral significance of the mirthful face are at the center of both texts' interpretations of laughter and humor in medieval culture; but the novel's withholding of facial description sits in stark contrast to the film's embrace of contemporary perceptions of what 'medieval faces' would have looked like and how they might be read. Comparing Annaud's visual language of 'historical physiognomy' with those of filmmakers Werner Hertzog and Michael Haneke, the essay situates both film and book within a latetwentieth- century use of the Middle Ages to comment on contemporary authoritarian and radical politics.",

author = "Louise D'Arcens",

note = "First published Feb 2017 in postmedieval 8(1). DOI: 10.1057/s41280-016-0034-y",

year = "2024",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-031-46413-3_4",

language = "English",

isbn = "9783031464126",

pages = "51--66",

editor = "Stephanie Downes and Stephanie Trigg",

booktitle = "Facing up to the history of emotions",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - Mirthful faces in The Name of the Rose

AU - D'Arcens, Louise

N1 - First published Feb 2017 in postmedieval 8(1). DOI: 10.1057/s41280-016-0034-y

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - This paper explores the 'mirthful face' in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose and Jean-Jacques Annaud's film adaptation. Debates over the political and moral significance of the mirthful face are at the center of both texts' interpretations of laughter and humor in medieval culture; but the novel's withholding of facial description sits in stark contrast to the film's embrace of contemporary perceptions of what 'medieval faces' would have looked like and how they might be read. Comparing Annaud's visual language of 'historical physiognomy' with those of filmmakers Werner Hertzog and Michael Haneke, the essay situates both film and book within a latetwentieth- century use of the Middle Ages to comment on contemporary authoritarian and radical politics.

AB - This paper explores the 'mirthful face' in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose and Jean-Jacques Annaud's film adaptation. Debates over the political and moral significance of the mirthful face are at the center of both texts' interpretations of laughter and humor in medieval culture; but the novel's withholding of facial description sits in stark contrast to the film's embrace of contemporary perceptions of what 'medieval faces' would have looked like and how they might be read. Comparing Annaud's visual language of 'historical physiognomy' with those of filmmakers Werner Hertzog and Michael Haneke, the essay situates both film and book within a latetwentieth- century use of the Middle Ages to comment on contemporary authoritarian and radical politics.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85194995036&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-46413-3_4

DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-46413-3_4

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85194995036

SN - 9783031464126

SP - 51

EP - 66

BT - Facing up to the history of emotions

A2 - Downes, Stephanie

A2 - Trigg, Stephanie

PB - Springer Nature

CY - Cham, Switzerland

ER -

Mirthful faces in The Name of the Rose

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Other files and links

Research output

Mirthful faces in The Name of the Rose

Cite this