|
Showing 1 - 5 of
5 matches in All Departments
Excerpts from texts (with translation) from the French of medieval
England offer a guide to medieval literary theory. From the twelfth
to the fifteenth centuries, French was one of England's main
languages of literature, record, diplomacy and commerce and also
its only supra-national vernacular. As is now recognised, the large
corpus of England'sFrench texts and records is indispensable to
understanding England's literary and cultural history, the
multilingualism of early England, and European medieval
French-language culture in general. This volume presents a full,
representative collection of texts and facing translations from
England's medieval French. Through its selection of prologues and
other excerpts from works composed or circulating in England, the
volume presents a body of vernacular literary theory, in which some
fifty-five highly various texts, from a range of genres, discuss
their own origins, circumstances, strategies, source materials,
purposes and audiences. Each entry, newly edited from a single
manuscript, is accompanied by a headnote, annotation, and narrative
bibliography, while a general introduction and section
introductions provide further context and information. Also
included are essays on French in England and onthe prosody and
prose of insular French; Middle English versions of some of the
edited French texts; and a glossary of literary terms. By giving
access to a literate culture hitherto available primarily only to
Anglo-Norman specialists, this book opens up new possibilities for
taking English francophony into account in research and teaching.
JOCELYN WOGAN-BROWNE is Thomas F.X. and Theresa Mullarkey Chair in
Literature, English Department, Fordham University, New York, and
formerly Professor of Medieval Literature, University of York;
THELMA FENSTER is Professor Emerita of French and Medieval Studies,
Fordham University; DELBERT RUSSELL is Distinguished Professor
Emeritus of French, University of Waterloo.
Excerpts from texts (with translation) from the French of medieval
England offer a guide to medieval literary theory. From the twelfth
to the fifteenth centuries, French was one of England's main
languages of literature, record, diplomacy and commerce and also
its only supra-national vernacular. As is now recognised, the large
corpus of England'sFrench texts and records is indispensable to
understanding England's literary and cultural history, the
multilingualism of early England, and European medieval
French-language culture in general. This volume presents a full,
representative collection of texts and facing translations from
England's medieval French. Through its selection of prologues and
other excerpts from works composed or circulating in England, the
volume presents a body of vernacular literary theory, in which some
fifty-five highly various texts, from a range of genres, discuss
their own origins, circumstances, strategies, source materials,
purposes and audiences. Each entry, newly edited from a single
manuscript, is accompanied by a headnote, annotation, and narrative
bibliography, while a general introduction and section
introductions provide further context and information. Also
included are essays on French in England and onthe prosody and
prose of insular French; Middle English versions of some of the
edited French texts; and a glossary of literary terms. By giving
access to a literate culture hitherto available primarily only to
Anglo-Norman specialists, this book opens up new possibilities for
taking English francophony into account in research and teaching.
Jocelyn Wogan-Browne is Thomas F.X. and Theresa Mullarkey Chair in
Literature, Fordham University, New York, and formerly Professor of
Medieval Literature, University of York; Thelma Fenster is
Professor Emerita of French and Medieval Studies, Fordham
University; Delbert Russell is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of
French, University of Waterloo.
Essays on the complexity of multilingualism in medieval England.
Professor Jocelyn Wogan-Browne's scholarship on the French of
England - a term she indeed coined for the mix of linguistic,
cultural, and political elements unique to the pluri-lingual
situation of medieval England - is of immenseimportance to the
field. The essays in this volume extend, honour and complement her
path-breaking work. They consider exchanges between England and
other parts of Britain, analysing how communication was effected
where languagesdiffered, and probe cross-Channel relations from a
new perspective. They also examine the play of features within
single manuscripts, and with manuscripts in conversation with each
other. And they discuss the continuing reach ofthe French of
England beyond the Middle Ages: in particular, how it became newly
relevant to discussions of language and nationalism in later
centuries. Whether looking at primary sources such as letters and
official documents, orat creative literature, both religious and
secular, the contributions here offer fruitful and exciting
approaches to understanding what the French of England can tell us
about medieval Britain and the European world beyond. Thelma
Fenster is Professor Emerita of French and Medieval Studies,
Fordham University; Carolyn Collette is Professor of English
Language and Literature at Mount Holyoke College. Contributors:
Christopher Baswell,Emma Campbell, Paul Cohen, Carolyn Collette,
Thelma Fenster, Robert Hanning, Richard Ingham, Maryanne Kowaleski,
Serge Lusignan, Thomas O'Donnell, W. Mark Ormrod, Monika Otter,
Felicity Riddy, Delbert Russell, Fiona Somerset, +Robert M. Stein,
Andrew Taylor, Nicholas Watson, R.F. Yeager
In medieval Europe, the word fama denoted both talk (what was
commonly said about a person or event) and an individual's ensuing
reputation (one's fama). Although talk by others was no doubt often
feared, it was also valued and even cultivated as a vehicle for
shaping one's status. People had to think about how to "manage"
their fama, which played an essential role in the medieval culture
of appearances.At the same time, however, institutions such as law
courts and the church, alarmed by the power of talk, sought
increasingly to regulate it. Christian moral discourse, literary
and visual representation, juristic manuals, and court records
reflected concern about talk. This book's authors consider how talk
was created and entered into memory. They address such topics as
fama's relation to secular law and the preoccupations of the
church, its impact on women's lives, and its capacity to shape the
concept of literary authorship.
In medieval Europe, the word fama denoted both talk (what was
commonly said about a person or event) and an individual's ensuing
reputation (one's fama). Although talk by others was no doubt often
feared, it was also valued and even cultivated as a vehicle for
shaping one's status. People had to think about how to "manage"
their fama, which played an essential role in the medieval culture
of appearances.At the same time, however, institutions such as law
courts and the church, alarmed by the power of talk, sought
increasingly to regulate it. Christian moral discourse, literary
and visual representation, juristic manuals, and court records
reflected concern about talk. This book's authors consider how talk
was created and entered into memory. They address such topics as
fama's relation to secular law and the preoccupations of the
church, its impact on women's lives, and its capacity to shape the
concept of literary authorship.
|
|