02486    a2200313   4500001001100000005001700011008003900028020001800067037003600085040000700121041000800128072001500136072001500151072001600166072001400182072001200196072001600208072002100224072002100245072002100266072002300287100002100310245006900331250000600400260003200406300001000438520170900448999001502157131709721120250317111622.0250312042016GB                   eng    a9781317097211  bTaylor & FranciscGBP 42.99fBB  a01  aeng7 aDSB2thema7 aATD2thema7 a1DDU2bisac7 aDSBD2bic7 aAN2bic7 a1DBK2bisac7 aLIT0190002bisac7 aSOC0280002bisac7 aLIT0000002bisac7 a822.00992872bisac1 aTara E. Pedersen10aMermaids and the Production of Knowledge in Early Modern England  a1  aOxfordbRoutledgec20160422  a166 p  bWe no longer ascribe the term ’mermaid’ to those we deem sexually or economically threatening; we do not ubiquitously use the mermaid’s image in political propaganda or feature her within our houses of worship; perhaps most notably, we do not entertain the possibility of the mermaid’s existence. This, author Tara Pedersen argues, makes it difficult for contemporary scholars to consider the mermaid as a figure who wields much social significance. During the early modern period, however, this was not the case, and Pedersen illustrates the complicated category distinctions that the mermaid inhabits and challenges in 16th-and 17th-century England.    Addressing epistemological questions about embodiment and perception, this study furthers research about early modern theatrical culture by focusing on under-theorized and seldom acknowledged representations of mermaids in English locations and texts. While individuals in early modern England were under pressure to conform to seemingly monolithic ideals about the natural order, there were also significant challenges to this order. Pedersen uses the figure of the mermaid to rethink some of these challenges, for the mermaid often appears in surprising places; she is situated at the nexus of historically specific debates about gender, sexuality, religion, the marketplace, the new science, and the culture of curiosity and travel. Although these topics of inquiry are not new, Pedersen argues that the mermaid provides a new lens through which to look at these subjects and also helps scholars think about the present moment, methodologies of reading, and many category distinctions that are important to contemporary scholarly debates.  c5883d5883