Middle English Literature

Beschreibung

This book provides a boldly original account of Middle Englishliterature from the Norman Conquest to the beginning of thesixteenth century. It argues that these centuries are, infundamental ways, the momentous period in our literary history, forthey are the long moment in which the category of literature itselfemerged as English writing began to insist, for the first time,that it floated free of any social reality or function. This book also charts the complex mechanisms by which Englishwriting acquired this power in a series of linked close readings ofboth canonical and more obscure texts. It encloses those readingsin five compelling accounts of much broader cultural areas,describing, in particular, the productive relationship of MiddleEnglish writing to medieval technology, insurgency, statecraft andcultural place, concluding with an in depth account of theparticular arguments, emphases and techniques English writers usedto claim a wholly new jurisdiction for their work. Both this history and its readings are everywhere informed bythe most exciting developments in recent Middle English scholarshipas well as literary and cultural theory. It serves as anintroduction to all these areas as well as a contribution, in itsown right, to each of them.

Autor*in

Christopher Cannon

Themen in »Middle English Literature«

Englische Literatur / Alt- u. Mittelenglisch, Mittelalter Literary Criticism & History Literature Literaturgeschichte Literaturkritik u. -geschichte Literaturwissenschaft Mittelenglisch Old, Middle & Medieval English Literature

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"Christopher Cannon's latest book makes one fall in love withMiddle English literature all over again ... a book that - I amconvinced - will endure as one of the most cogent, sophisticated,and delightful introductions to English medieval literaryhistory." English "This is a scintillating cultural history of Middle Englishliterature, punctuated throughout with critical insights ...Cannon's succinct and vivid style allows him to introduce strikingbits of philosophical or cultural theory alongside descriptions ofcrucial technological innovations ... equipped with itsbibliographical guides and timeline, Medieval EnglishLiterature achieves the enviable aim of providing the studentwith both a cultural history and plenty of original literarycommentary." Medium Auvum "Following in the distinguished footsteps of Derek Pearsall andJames Simpson, Christopher Cannon offers an exhilarating grand tourof Middle English literature. Cannon's writing is not justefficient but also elegant and pithy. His aphorisms condense knottyarguments and enact complex critical positions with unusual poiseand insight. But underpinning his approach throughout is aphilologist's ability to listen attentively to the voices ofthe pages, to display what Nietzsche called 'the leisurely art ofthe goldsmith applied to language'." Vincent Gillespie, University of Oxford
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