Companion To Medieval English Literature And Culture C. 1350

Description:
A Companion to Medieval English Literature and Culture, c.1350-c.1500 challenges readers to think beyond a narrowly defined canon and conventional disciplinary boundaries. A ground-breaking collection of newly-commissioned essays on medieval literature and culture. * Encourages students to think beyond a narrowly defined canon and conventional disciplinary boundaries. * Reflects the erosion of the traditional, rigid boundary between medieval and early modern literature. * Stresses the importance of constructing contexts for reading literature. * Explores the extent to which medieval literature is in dialogue with other cultural products, including the literature of other countries, manuscripts and religion. * Includes close readings of frequently-studied texts, including texts by Chaucer, Langland, the Gawain poet, and Hoccleve. * Confronts some of the controversies that exercise students of medieval literature, such as those connected with literary theory, love, and chivalry and war.

Review:
'These thorough, engaging essays decertify many canonical certainties ... Highly Recommended.' CHOICE 'Another grand project that combines breadth and depth ... A highly eminent collection of thirty-eight contributions ranges over a variety of topics.' Medium Aevum 'There is plenty here for everybody, and all of it written in a way accessible to the general reader as well as to the student, or fellow specialist.' Reference Reviews

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations. Notes on Contributors. Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Introduction: Peter Brown (University of Kent at Canterbury). Part I: Overviews:. 1. Critical Approaches: David Raybin (Eastern Illinois University). 2. English Society in the Later Middle Ages: Deference, Ambition and Conflict: S. H. Rigby (University of Manchester). 3. Religious Authority and Dissent: Mishtooni Bose (Christ Church, Oxford). 4. City and Country, Wealth and Labour: Sarah Rees Jones (University of York). 5. Women's Voices and Roles: Carol M. Meale (University of Bristol). Part II: The Production and Reception of Texts:. 6. Manuscripts and Readers: A. S. G. Edwards (De Montfort University). 7. From Manuscript to Modern Text: Julia Boffey (Queen Mary, University of London). 8. Translation and Society: Catherine Batt (University of Leeds). Part III: Language and Literature:. 9. The Languages of Medieval Britain: Laura Wright (Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge). 10. The Forms of Speech: Donka Minkova (UCLA). 11. The Forms of Verse: Donka Minkova (UCLA). Part IV: Encounters with Other Cultures:. 12. England and France: Ardis Butterfield (University College London). 13. Britain and Italy: Trade, Travel, Translation: Nick Havely (University of York). 14. England's Antiquities: Middle English Literature and the Classical Past: Christopher Baswell (UCLA). 15. Jews, Saracens, 'Black Men', Tartars: England in a World of Racial Difference: Geraldine Heng (University of Texas at Austin). Part V: Special Themes:. 16. War and Chivalry: Richard W. Kaeuper (University of Rochester) and Montgomery Bohna (University of Pittsburgh). 17. Literature and Law: Richard Firth Green (Ohio State University). 18. Images: Peter Brown (University of Kent at Canterbury). 19. Love: Barry Windeatt (Emmanuel College, Cambridge). Part VI: Genres:. 20. Middle English Romance: Thomas Hahn (University of Rochester) and Dana M. Symons (Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada). 21. Writing Nation: Shaping Identity in Medieval Historical Narratives: Raluca L. Radulescu (University of Wales, Bangor). 22. Dream Poems: Helen Phillips (University of Wales, Cardiff). 23. Lyric: Rosemary Greentree (University of Adelaide). 24. Literature of Religious Instruction: E. A. Jones (University of Exeter). 25. Mystical and Devotional Literature: Denise N. Baker (University of North Carolina at Greensboro). 26. Accounts of Lives: Kathleen Ashley (University of Southern Maine). 27. Medieval English Theatre: Codes and Genres: Meg Twycross (University of Lancaster). 28. Morality and Interlude Drama: Darryll Grantley (University of Kent at Canterbury). Part VII: Readings:. 29. York Mystery Plays: Pamela King (University of Bristol). 30. The Book of Margery Kempe: Ruth Evans (University of Stirling). 31. Julian of Norwich: Santha Bhattacharji (Keble College, Oxford). 32. Piers Plowman: Stephen Kelly (Queen's University, Belfast). 33. Subjectivity and Ideology in the Canterbury Tales: Mark Miller (University of Chicago). 34. John Gower and John Lydgate: Forms and Norms of Rhetorical Culture: J. Allan Mitchell (University of Kent). 35. Thomas Hoccleve, La Male Regle: Nicholas Perkins (St Hugh's College, Oxford). 36. Discipline and Relaxation in the Poetry of Robert Henryson: R. James Goldstein (Auburn University, Alabama). 37. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Kevin Gustafson (University of Texas at Arlington). 38. Blood and Love in Malory's Morte Darthur: Catherine La Farge (National University of Ireland, Galway). Index

Author Biography:
Peter Brown is Professor of Medieval English Literature at the University of Kent. His book publications include A Companion to Chaucer (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000), Reading Dreams: The Interpretation of Dreams from Chaucer to Shakespeare (1999), Chaucer at Work: The Making of the Canterbury Tales (1994) and, with Andrew Butcher, The Age of Saturn: Literature and History in the Canterbury Tales (1991).