Corpus Christi Books

Please note that translated plays (Sophocles, Moliere, Chekov, etc) may be different from other current translations, but are still good.

The plays included are as follows:

1. Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannos
2. The Plaie Called Corpus Christi, Part 1: The Beginnings
3. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
4. Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), The Bourgeois Gentleman
5. August Strindberg, Miss Julie
6. Anton Chekhov, The Three Sisters
7. Samuel Beckett, Happy Days
8. Sam Shepard, Fool for Love

Dean's book examines the ambiguity of symbols inherent in the colonial experience. I often wondered-as with most historical reconstructions of "culture" and interpretations of practices long lost from memory-if there was enough "evidence" to make the claims she makes about the representation of sub-alterity. On the one hand, the Indian appears to constructing a colonial self through his/her dress, decoration, mannerisms, artistic expressive forms (such as dance or architecture), etc. But on the other hand, s/he is engaged in the hegemonic forces of "being Indian" within the dominant colonialist ideology. The question is, to what extent did the Indian have the freedom to make choices about dress, dance, decoration, etc. and to what extent was the image of the Indian under the control and creation of the colonialist/church?

I think the pressing need for an academic to take a "politically correct" stance in this day and age must sadly override the ability to present the honest truth in the case of colonial subjectivity. Allowing the indigenous people to speak for themselves is questionable in the case of iconic representation. For instance, where are the depictions of the Indians who carried the massive saints--where are these dark bodies in the paintings Dean examines. And if they are missing, why doesn't the author seem troubled by this?

Read the book and decide for yourself.

There are many important ideas in this book, which almost make it worth reading. Unfortunately, Dr Rubin is one of the worst writers of prose I have ever endured. She prefers fashionable jargon to plain spoken explanations, and if a page will do she writes ten. Where was her editor?

Rubin consolidates an encyclopedic knowledge of the Eucharist and the rites of the feast of Corpus Christi into a balmy narrative, in this book, now in its sixth printing. The book, undoubtedly a standard in medieval and renaissance history and religion courses, can be viewed more as a textbook on the subject than an engaging read. In constructing her history, and it is extraordinarily intricate, fraught with untimely deaths, expulsions, and papal bulls never circulated, she draws from archival, apocryphal, and secondary sourse material. Considering the task she faced, she succeeds admirably. The reader wanting more will then face the task of combing through her extensive bibliograhy and copious footnotes.