Praise Bee!: Allegory and Interpretation in theAberdeen Bestiary

Jordan Loveridge Schlumberger (Ireland)

Abstract

This essay argues that medieval bestiaries are dependent on and best understood through a process of rhetorical hermeneutics indebted to Augustine’s theory of interpretation. The essay suggests that texts such as the Aberdeen Bestiary leverage the instability of allegorical and the clarity of tropological representation to blur the line between human and nonhuman, encouraging the reader to reflect on predatory human-animal relationships and act to reduce actions that impact the natural world.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2019-08-08
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2019.1648852
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Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Rhetoric Review

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