A Companion to Medieval English Literature and Culture, c.1350 - c.1500 (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture)

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. A Companion to Medieval English Literature and Culture C.1350–C.1500 5 Contents 7 List of Illustrations 11 Notes on Contributors 12 Acknowledgements 17 Abbreviations 18 Introduction 21 PART I Overviews 27 1. Critical Approaches 29 2. English Society in the Later Middle Ages: Deference, Ambition and Conflict 45 3. Religious Authority and Dissent 60 4. City and Country, Wealth and Labour 76 5. Women's Voices and Roles 94 PART II The Production and Reception of Texts 111 6. Manuscripts and Readers 113 7. From Manuscript to Modern Text 127 8. Translation and Society 143 PART III Language and Literature 161 9. The Languages of Medieval Britain 163 10. The Forms of Speech 179 11. The Forms of Verse 196 PART IV Encounters with Other Cultures 217 12. England and France 219 13. Britain and Italy: Trade, Travel, Translation 235 14. England's Antiquities: Middle English Literature and the Classical Past 251 15. Jews, Saracens, 'Black Men', Tartars: England in a World of Racial Difference 267 PART V Special Themes 291 16. War and Chivalry 293 17. Literature and Law 312 18. Images 327 19. Love 342 PART VI Genres 359 20. Middle English Romance 361 21. Writing Nation: Shaping Identity in Medieval Historical Narratives 378 22. Dream Poems 394 23. Lyric 407 24. Literature of Religious Instruction 426 25. Mystical and Devotional Literature 443 26. Accounts of Lives 457 27. Medieval English Theatre: Codes and Genres 474 28. Morality and Interlude Drama 493 PART VII Readings 509 29. York Mystery Plays 511 30. The Book of Margery Kempe 527 31. Julian of Norwich 542 32. Piers Plowman 557 33. Subjectivity and Ideology in the Canterbury Tales 574 34. John Gower and John Lydgate: Forms and Norms of Rhetorical Culture 589 35. Thomas Hoccleve, La Male Regle 605 36. Discipline and Relaxation in the Poetry of Robert Henryson 624 37. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 639 38. Blood and Love in Malory's Morte Darthur 654 Index 669 This companion challenges readers to think beyond a narrowly defined canon and conventional disciplinary boundaries in a number of important ways. Firstly, the companion's date range reflects the erosion of the traditional, rigid boundary between medieval and early modern literature. Secondly, the structure of the book stresses the importance of constructing contexts for reading literature. Thirdly, the companion explores the extent to which medieval literature is in dialogue with other cultural products, including the literature of other countries, manuscripts and religion