The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century MillerThe Cheese and the Worms is a study of the popular culture in the sixteenth century as seen through the eyes of one man, a miller brought to trial during the Inquisition. Carlo Ginzburg uses the trial records of Domenico Scandella, a miller also known as Menocchio, to show how one person responded to the confusing political and religious conditions of his time. For a common miller, Menocchio was surprisingly literate. In his trial testimony he made references to more than a dozen books, including the Bible, Boccaccio's Decameron, Mandeville's Travels, and a "mysterious" book that may have been the Koran. And what he read he recast in terms familiar to him, as in his own version of the creation: "All was chaos, that is earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and of that bulk a mass formed—just as cheese is made out of milk—and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels." |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 65
... words while obscuring others , that stretched the meaning of a word , taking it out of its context , that acted on Menocchio's memory and distorted the very words of the text . And this screen , this key to his reading , continually ...
... words were at his disposal to express the obscure , inarticulate vision of the world that fermented within him . In the sentences or snatches of sentences wrung out of books he found the instruments to formulate and defend his ideas ...
... words from everyday life . Thus , in the interrogation of 12 May , we find " infant in the mother's womb , " " herds , " " carpenter , " " bench , " " workmen , " cheese , " " worms " ; but also " imperfect , " " perfect , " " sub ...
Other editions - View all
The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller Carlo Ginzburg Limited preview - 1992 |
The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller Carlo Ginzburg Limited preview - 2013 |
The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller Carlo Ginzburg Limited preview - 2013 |