The Master and Minerva Quotes

“In a society where our sense of the power of language is so thoroughly attenuated by other media, where violence is linked more and more with audiovisual imagery, the possibility that words can enact harm is difficult to fathom. Were it not for the reemerging concern over hate speech and the idioms of "fighting words," the idea of verbal injury would seem remote, little more than a curious avatar of an earlier mentality.”
― Helen Solterer, The Master and Minerva: Disputing Women in French Medieval Culture