Scatology
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The subject of SCATALOGIC or STERCORACEOUS RITES AND PRACTICES, however repellent it may be under some of its aspects, is none the less deserving of the profoundest consideration,—if for no other reason than that from the former universal dissemination of such aberrations of the intellect, as well as of the religious impulses of the human race, and their present curtailment or restriction, the progress of humanity upward and onward may best be measured."--Scatalogic Rites of All Nations (1891) by John Gregory Bourke |
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In medicine and biology, scatology or coprology is the study of feces.
The word derives from the Greek word for "feces".
In literature, "scatological" is a common term to denote the literary trope akin to the grotesque body. It is used to describe works that make particular reference to excretion or excrement, as well as to toilet humor.
In sexual context scatology refers to sexual acts conducted with human (or other) excrement.
A comprehensive study of scatology was documented by John Gregory Bourke under the title Scatalogic Rites of All Nations (1891). An abbreviated version of the work (with a foreword by Sigmund Freud), was published as The Portable Scatalog in 1994.
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Psychology
In psychology, a scatology is an obsession with excretion or excrement, or the study of such obsessions. (See also coprophilia.)
Sexuality
In a sexual context, scatology refers to the romanticism of fecal matter, whether in passing admiration, the use of feces in various sexual acts, or simply the act of seeing it. Entire subcultures in sexuality are devoted to this fetish.
Literature
In literature, "scatological" is a term to denote the literary trope of the grotesque body. It is used to describe works that make particular reference to excretion or excrement, as well as to toilet humor. Well known for his scatological tropes is the late medieval fictional character of Till Eulenspiegel. Another common example is John Dryden's Mac Flecknoe, a poem that employs extensive scatological imagery to ridicule Dryden's contemporary Thomas Shadwell. In German literature in particular is a wealth of scatological texts and references, which includes such books as Collofino's Non Olet. A case which has provoked an unusual amount of comment in the academic literature is Mozart's scatological humour. Smith, in his review of English literature's representations of scatology from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, notes two attitudes towards scatology. One of these emphasises the merry and the carnivalesque. This is found in Chaucer and Shakespeare. The other attitude is one of self-disgust and misanthropy. This is found in the works of the Earl of Rochester and Jonathan Swift.
Scatological studies
Scatological studies allow one to determine a wide range of biological information about a creature, including its diet (and thus where it has been), healthiness, and diseases such as tapeworms. The word derives from the Greek σκώρ (genitive σκατός, modern σκατό, pl. σκατά) meaning "feces".
See also
- Coprolite
- Grotesque body
- Toilet philosophy
- National Conveniences: Four ways of shitting
- Scatolinguistics
- Scatophilia
- Toilet philosophy
Sources
- Rabelais and His World by Bakhtin
