William Dunbar and Andro Kennedy: A Dental Challenge

This short article examines a curious confrontation or interaction (in a literary or symbolic sense) between the poets William Dunbar and Andro Kennedy, framed metaphorically as a “dental challenge.” The author explores how the poets used verbal sparring (flyting), satire, and other poetic strategies to critique or challenge each other. The “dental” metaphor may refer to biting rhetorical attacks, a pun on biting speech, or internal “chewing” of poetic argument. The article situates this contest in the context of late medieval Scottish poetry, focusing on how both Dunbar and Kennedy employ comic invective, rhetorical devices, and poetic persona to one‑up each other.

The paper discusses how each poet crafts his language: Dunbar’s is more concise, witty, and tightly controlled, while Kennedy’s is more expansive, learned, and discursive. The author also considers how these poems reflect the literary culture of the time, oral traditions of poetic competition, and the role of insult‑exchange genres (flyting) in medieval Scottish poetics.

Loại tài liệu:

Article - Bài báo

Tác giả:

MacDonald, A. A.

Đề mục:

Literary Studies

Nhà xuất bản:

Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature

Ngày xuất bản:

2009

Số trang/ tờ:

Định dạng:

pdf

Định danh tư liệu:

https://doi.org/10.2307/43632802

Nguồn gốc:

Medium Aevum; Volume 78, Number 1, 2009, Pages 118-123

Liên kết:

ISSN 0025-8385

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William Dunbar and Andro Kennedy: A Dental Challenge

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