Bibliographic Information

Readings in medieval texts : interpreting Old and Middle English literature

edited by David F. Johnson and Elaine Treharne

Oxford University Press, 2005

Available at  / 14 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Readings in Medieval Texts offers a thorough and accessible introduction to the interpretation and criticism of a broad range of Old and Middle English canonical texts from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. The volume brings together 24 newly commissioned chapters by a leading international team of medieval scholars. An introductory chapter highlights the overarching trends in the composition of English Literature in the Medieval periods, and provides an overview of the textual continuities and innovations. Individual chapters give detailed information about context, authorship, date, and critical views on texts, before providing fascinating and thought-provoking examinations of crucial excerpts and themes. This book will be invaluable for undergraduate and graduate students on all courses in Medieval Studies, particularly those focusing on understanding literature and its role in society.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • 1. The context of medieval literature
  • 2. Old English religious poetry
  • 3. The Old English elegy: an historicization
  • 4. 'Tell me what I am': the Old English riddles
  • 5. Warring with words: Cynewulf's Juliana
  • 6. Old English heroic literature
  • 7. Beowulf: monuments, moments, history
  • 8. History and memory in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
  • 9. The persuasive power of Alfredian prose
  • 10. Old English religious prose: rhetorics of salvation and damnation
  • 11. Centralizing feminism in Anglo-Saxon Literary Studies: Elene, motherhood, and history
  • 12. Wise words: Old English sapiental poetry
  • 13. Middle English didactic literature
  • 14. Middle English writings for women: Ancrene Wisse
  • 15. The Middle English Brut chronicles
  • 16. Earlier verse romance
  • 17. Middle English debate literature
  • 18. Religious writing by Women
  • 19. The Gawain-poet
  • 20. Middle English prologues
  • 21. The Middle English lyrics
  • 22. Medieval dream visions: Chaucer's Book of the Duchess
  • 23. Late romance: Malory and the Tale of Balin
  • 24. Scottish literature
  • 25. Medieval drama: the Corpus Christi in York and Croxton

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

Page Top