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Talking Turpiloquium: Gendering the Problem of “Spekyng Rybawdy” in Mirk’s Festial and Idley’s Instructions

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Abstract

This article explores the gendered models of turpiloquium–illicit sexual language or “spekyng rybawdy”–in two late Middle English didactic texts, John Mirk’s Festial and Peter Idley’s Instructions to His Son. Whereas the most popular pastoral model of turpiloquium is between a man and a woman and leads to heterosexual intercourse, Mirk and Idley examine the vice as an exclusively intra-gender phenomenon, fully illuminating the unique problems and unexpected possibilities accorded to turpiloquium in late medieval England.

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  1. English Department, Northwestern University, University Hall 215, 1897 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    Carissa Harris

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  1. Carissa Harris
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Correspondence to Carissa Harris.

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Harris, C. Talking Turpiloquium: Gendering the Problem of “Spekyng Rybawdy” in Mirk’s Festial and Idley’s Instructions . Neophilologus 95, 491–505 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-010-9229-x

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