Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages

Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages

Author: Eleanor Johnson

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2013-05-11

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 022601584X

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Literary scholars often avoid the category of the aesthetic in discussions of ethics, believing that purely aesthetic judgments can vitiate analyses of a literary work’s sociopolitical heft and meaning. In Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages, Eleanor Johnson reveals that aesthetics—the formal aspects of literary language that make it sense-perceptible—are indeed inextricable from ethics in the writing of medieval literature. Johnson brings a keen formalist eye to bear on the prosimetric form: the mixing of prose with lyrical poetry. This form descends from the writings of the sixth-century Christian philosopher Boethius—specifically his famous prison text, Consolation of Philosophy—to the late medieval English tradition. Johnson argues that Boethius’s text had a broad influence not simply on the thematic and philosophical content of subsequent literary writing, but also on the specific aesthetic construction of several vernacular traditions. She demonstrates the underlying prosimetric structures in a variety of Middle English texts—including Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and portions of the Canterbury Tales, Thomas Usk’s Testament of Love, John Gower’s Confessio amantis, and Thomas Hoccleve’s autobiographical poetry—and asks how particular formal choices work, how they resonate with medieval literary-theoretical ideas, and how particular poems and prose works mediate the tricky business of modeling ethical transformation for a readership.


Book Synopsis Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages by : Eleanor Johnson

Download or read book Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages written by Eleanor Johnson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-05-11 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Literary scholars often avoid the category of the aesthetic in discussions of ethics, believing that purely aesthetic judgments can vitiate analyses of a literary work’s sociopolitical heft and meaning. In Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages, Eleanor Johnson reveals that aesthetics—the formal aspects of literary language that make it sense-perceptible—are indeed inextricable from ethics in the writing of medieval literature. Johnson brings a keen formalist eye to bear on the prosimetric form: the mixing of prose with lyrical poetry. This form descends from the writings of the sixth-century Christian philosopher Boethius—specifically his famous prison text, Consolation of Philosophy—to the late medieval English tradition. Johnson argues that Boethius’s text had a broad influence not simply on the thematic and philosophical content of subsequent literary writing, but also on the specific aesthetic construction of several vernacular traditions. She demonstrates the underlying prosimetric structures in a variety of Middle English texts—including Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and portions of the Canterbury Tales, Thomas Usk’s Testament of Love, John Gower’s Confessio amantis, and Thomas Hoccleve’s autobiographical poetry—and asks how particular formal choices work, how they resonate with medieval literary-theoretical ideas, and how particular poems and prose works mediate the tricky business of modeling ethical transformation for a readership.


Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages

Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages

Author: Eleanor Johnson

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2017-12-20

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 022652745X

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Literary scholars often avoid the category of the aesthetic in discussions of ethics, believing that purely aesthetic judgments can vitiate analyses of a literary work’s sociopolitical heft and meaning. In Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages, Eleanor Johnson reveals that aesthetics—the formal aspects of literary language that make it sense-perceptible—are indeed inextricable from ethics in the writing of medieval literature. Johnson brings a keen formalist eye to bear on the prosimetric form: the mixing of prose with lyrical poetry. This form descends from the writings of the sixth-century Christian philosopher Boethius—specifically his famous prison text, Consolation of Philosophy—to the late medieval English tradition. Johnson argues that Boethius’s text had a broad influence not simply on the thematic and philosophical content of subsequent literary writing, but also on the specific aesthetic construction of several vernacular traditions. She demonstrates the underlying prosimetric structures in a variety of Middle English texts—including Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and portions of the Canterbury Tales, Thomas Usk’s Testament of Love, John Gower’s Confessio amantis, and Thomas Hoccleve’s autobiographical poetry—and asks how particular formal choices work, how they resonate with medieval literary-theoretical ideas, and how particular poems and prose works mediate the tricky business of modeling ethical transformation for a readership.


Book Synopsis Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages by : Eleanor Johnson

Download or read book Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages written by Eleanor Johnson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-12-20 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Literary scholars often avoid the category of the aesthetic in discussions of ethics, believing that purely aesthetic judgments can vitiate analyses of a literary work’s sociopolitical heft and meaning. In Practicing Literary Theory in the Middle Ages, Eleanor Johnson reveals that aesthetics—the formal aspects of literary language that make it sense-perceptible—are indeed inextricable from ethics in the writing of medieval literature. Johnson brings a keen formalist eye to bear on the prosimetric form: the mixing of prose with lyrical poetry. This form descends from the writings of the sixth-century Christian philosopher Boethius—specifically his famous prison text, Consolation of Philosophy—to the late medieval English tradition. Johnson argues that Boethius’s text had a broad influence not simply on the thematic and philosophical content of subsequent literary writing, but also on the specific aesthetic construction of several vernacular traditions. She demonstrates the underlying prosimetric structures in a variety of Middle English texts—including Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and portions of the Canterbury Tales, Thomas Usk’s Testament of Love, John Gower’s Confessio amantis, and Thomas Hoccleve’s autobiographical poetry—and asks how particular formal choices work, how they resonate with medieval literary-theoretical ideas, and how particular poems and prose works mediate the tricky business of modeling ethical transformation for a readership.


Medieval Theory of Authorship

Medieval Theory of Authorship

Author: Alastair Minnis

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2012-03-13

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0812205707

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It has often been held that scholasticism destroyed the literary theory that was emerging during the twelfth-century Renaissance, and hence discussion of late medieval literary works has tended to derive its critical vocabulary from modern, not medieval, theory. In Medieval Theory of Authorship, now reissued with a new preface by the author, Alastair Minnis asks, "Is it not better to search again for a conceptual equipment which is at once historically valid and theoretically illuminating?" Minnis has found such writings in the glosses and commentaries on the authoritative Latin writers studied in schools and universities between 1100 and 1400. The prologues to these commentaries provide valuable insight into the medieval theory of authorship. Of special significance is scriptural exegesis, for medieval scholars found the Bible the most difficult text to describe appropriately and accurately.


Book Synopsis Medieval Theory of Authorship by : Alastair Minnis

Download or read book Medieval Theory of Authorship written by Alastair Minnis and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2012-03-13 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has often been held that scholasticism destroyed the literary theory that was emerging during the twelfth-century Renaissance, and hence discussion of late medieval literary works has tended to derive its critical vocabulary from modern, not medieval, theory. In Medieval Theory of Authorship, now reissued with a new preface by the author, Alastair Minnis asks, "Is it not better to search again for a conceptual equipment which is at once historically valid and theoretically illuminating?" Minnis has found such writings in the glosses and commentaries on the authoritative Latin writers studied in schools and universities between 1100 and 1400. The prologues to these commentaries provide valuable insight into the medieval theory of authorship. Of special significance is scriptural exegesis, for medieval scholars found the Bible the most difficult text to describe appropriately and accurately.


Literary Theory and Criticism in the Later Middle Ages

Literary Theory and Criticism in the Later Middle Ages

Author: Ardis Butterfield

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2023-03-31

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 1108492398

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Reasserts the central importance of medieval scholastic literary theory through a collection of newly-commissioned expert essays.


Book Synopsis Literary Theory and Criticism in the Later Middle Ages by : Ardis Butterfield

Download or read book Literary Theory and Criticism in the Later Middle Ages written by Ardis Butterfield and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-03-31 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reasserts the central importance of medieval scholastic literary theory through a collection of newly-commissioned expert essays.


Talk and Textual Production in Medieval England

Talk and Textual Production in Medieval England

Author: Marisa Libbon

Publisher: Mad Creek Books

Published: 2021-04-08

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780814214701

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Uses the life of Richard I to argue that medieval England's public talk was essential to the production of texts and was a fundamental part of the transmission and reception of literature.


Book Synopsis Talk and Textual Production in Medieval England by : Marisa Libbon

Download or read book Talk and Textual Production in Medieval England written by Marisa Libbon and published by Mad Creek Books. This book was released on 2021-04-08 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uses the life of Richard I to argue that medieval England's public talk was essential to the production of texts and was a fundamental part of the transmission and reception of literature.


English Literary Criticism

English Literary Criticism

Author: J. W. H. Atkins

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-05-18

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 1000378799

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In England literary consciousness had its beginning in the middle ages, and this book, originally published in 1943, describes and illustrates the first phases of the growth of a tradition of criticism. It does not confine itself to writers whose interest was in the vernacular, for there was a larger European movement of which English criticism was a part. It embodied much of the ancient teaching, but it shows recurring efforts to arrive at the nature and art of poetry; it provides a key to contemporary literature and is of great help in understanding what really happened at the 16th Century Renaissance.


Book Synopsis English Literary Criticism by : J. W. H. Atkins

Download or read book English Literary Criticism written by J. W. H. Atkins and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In England literary consciousness had its beginning in the middle ages, and this book, originally published in 1943, describes and illustrates the first phases of the growth of a tradition of criticism. It does not confine itself to writers whose interest was in the vernacular, for there was a larger European movement of which English criticism was a part. It embodied much of the ancient teaching, but it shows recurring efforts to arrive at the nature and art of poetry; it provides a key to contemporary literature and is of great help in understanding what really happened at the 16th Century Renaissance.


Socioliterary Practice in Late Medieval England

Socioliterary Practice in Late Medieval England

Author: Helen Barr

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2001-12-06

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0191540862

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Socioliterary Practice in Late Medieval England bridges the disciplines of literature and history by examining various kinds of literary language as examples of social practice. Readings of both English and Latin texts from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries are grounded in close textual study which reveals the social positioning of these works and the kinds of ideological work they can be seen to perform. Distinctive new readings of texts emerge which challenge received interpretations of literary history and late medieval culture. Canonical authors and texts such as Chaucer, Gower, and Pearl are discussed alongside the less familiar: Clanvowe, anonymous alliterative verse, and Wycliffite prose tracts.


Book Synopsis Socioliterary Practice in Late Medieval England by : Helen Barr

Download or read book Socioliterary Practice in Late Medieval England written by Helen Barr and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2001-12-06 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Socioliterary Practice in Late Medieval England bridges the disciplines of literature and history by examining various kinds of literary language as examples of social practice. Readings of both English and Latin texts from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries are grounded in close textual study which reveals the social positioning of these works and the kinds of ideological work they can be seen to perform. Distinctive new readings of texts emerge which challenge received interpretations of literary history and late medieval culture. Canonical authors and texts such as Chaucer, Gower, and Pearl are discussed alongside the less familiar: Clanvowe, anonymous alliterative verse, and Wycliffite prose tracts.


Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice

Author: C. S. BALDWIN

Publisher:

Published: 1959

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780844610429

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Book Synopsis Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice by : C. S. BALDWIN

Download or read book Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice written by C. S. BALDWIN and published by . This book was released on 1959 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


English Literary Criticism

English Literary Criticism

Author: John William Hey Atkins

Publisher: CUP Archive

Published: 1943

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9781001287706

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Book Synopsis English Literary Criticism by : John William Hey Atkins

Download or read book English Literary Criticism written by John William Hey Atkins and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1943 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Literary Theory

Literary Theory

Author: Paul Maurice Clogan

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9780847676088

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Book Synopsis Literary Theory by : Paul Maurice Clogan

Download or read book Literary Theory written by Paul Maurice Clogan and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1989 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: