David Williams (1939–2015) was an expert on
Medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...
, as well as a college professor and department chair at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
. He has authored several books.
Deformed Discourse
Williams's book ''Deformed Discourse: The Function of the Monster in Mediaeval Thought and Literature'' won the 1997
Raymond Klibansky Prize. In the book, "Williams explores the concept of monsters in the Middle Ages by examining its theological and philosophical roots and its symbolic function in mediaeval art and literature."
This large book was a logical follow-up to his smaller 1982 book, ''Cain and Beowulf: A Study in Secular Allegory'', which draws on and elucidates the
Cain tradition.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, David
1939 births
2015 deaths
Canadian medievalists