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Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science

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Article http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2022.06.009

The Kiss in Medieval Literature: Erotic Communication, with an Emphasis on Roman de Silence

Albrecht Classen

Department of German Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.

*Corresponding author: Albrecht Classen

Published: June 9,2022

Abstract

In the pre-modern world, exchanging kisses carried many different reasons, not at all purely erotic. Instead, we commonly observe that the kiss was of great significance in religious, political, and legal terms. However, we have not yet fully recognized the fact that the kiss represents the ultimate medium of communication in an erotic or other type of relationship. After surveying briefly the history of kissing in medieval literature, this article examines some major situations in Heldris de Cornwall’s Roman de Silence where this phenomenon is most dramatically illustrated. Once words have failed to express the full meaning of an exchange, the kiss constitutes the ultimate human expression joining two individuals.

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How to cite this paper

The Kiss in Medieval Literature: Erotic Communication, with an Emphasis on Roman de Silence

How to cite this paper: Albrecht Classen. (2022) The Kiss in Medieval Literature: Erotic Communication, with an Emphasis on Roman de Silence. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science6(2), 227-232.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2022.06.009