Medieval Romance, Arthurian Literature - Essays in Honour of Elizabeth Archibald

Contemporary models of resilience in traumatic circumstances emphasise coping in the face of adversity and positive outcomes. However, the coping and outcomes generally envisaged tend to be narrowly conceived. They do not acknowledge that paradoxical, complex, or painful outcomes may sometimes represent the true nature of resilience better than measures of psychological wellbeing. St John of the Cross's 'Dark Night of the Soul' poems, by contrast, suggest that it is precisely within the places of adversity, the 'dark nights' in which it is difficult or impossible to find meaning, that growth and creativity may be found. They represent ontological boundaries, leading to new states of understanding and vision. The pre-Cartesian thought world of the medieval period, with its assumption of the interconnectedness of body and mind, the role of affect in cognition, and a spiritual world view, rendered such ideas particularly powerful. Traumatic experience was fearful but could be sought after, effecting extremes of feeling affecting both body and mind that led to profound changes in understanding. This is most obviously exemplified in visionary writing, but it is also an underpinning pattern in romance - though a less studied one. Romance has more often been treated in terms of accretive action, and the related movement through penance to grace. This essay will focus on the ways in which traumatic or 'dark night' experiences lead to changed perceptions and shifts in world views, reflected in the interconnected psychological, physical and emotional responses of its protagonists. Thinking and feeling are shown to be interdependent. A range of Middle English romances in which the protagonists experience episodes of extreme trauma and loss that transform their ontological perspectives and ideas of self is considered.ISBN : 9781843846161 Front Cover Contents Contributors Elizabeth Archibald Introduction: Learning, Romance and Arthurianism Abbreviations 1 Silence in Debate: The Intellectual Nature of the Roman de Silence 2 From Sorceresses to Scholars: Universities and the Disenchantment of Romance 3 The Island of Sicily and the Matter of Britain 4 Romance Repetitions and the Sea: Brendan, Constance, Apollonius 5 Emaré: The Story and its Telling 6 Dark Nights of Romance: Thinking and Feeling in the Moment 7 ‘This was a sodeyn love’: Ladies Fall in Love in Medieval Romance 8 Noise, Sound and Silence in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 9 Armorial Colours, Quasi-Heraldry, and the Disguised Identity Motif in Sir Gowther, Ipomadon A and Malory's 'Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney' 10 The Body Language of Malory’s Le Morte Darthur 11 ‘Spirituall Thynges’: Human-Divine Encounters in Malory 12 Malory’s Morte Darthur and the Bible 13 Arthurian Literature in the Percy Folio Manuscript 14 Dutch, French and English in Caxton’s Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye Bibliography of Elizabeth Archibald’s Writings Index Tabula Gratulatoria Two crucial genres of medieval literature are studied in this outstanding collection.The essays in this volume honour the distinguished career of Professor Elizabeth Archibald. They explore two areas that her scholarship has done so much to illuminate: medieval romance, and Arthurian literature. Several chapters examine individual romances, including Emaré, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Roman de Silence. Others focus on wider concerns in romances and related works in Middle English, Latin, French, German and Icelandic, from a variety of perspectives. Later chapters consider Arthurian material, with a particular emphasis on hitherto unexamined aspects of Malory's Morte Darthur. It thus, fittingly, reflects the range of linguistic and literary expertise that Professor Archibald has brought to these fields. Two crucial genres of medieval literature are studied in this outstanding collection. The essays in this volume honour the distinguished career of Professor Elizabeth Archibald. They explore two areas that her scholarship has done so much to medieval romance, and Arthurian literature. Several chapters examine individual romances, including Emar, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Roman de Silence. Others focus on wider concerns in romances and related works in Middle English, Latin, French, German and Icelandic, from a variety of perspectives. Later chapters consider Arthurian material, with a particular emphasis on hitherto unexamined aspects of Malory's Morte Darthur. It thus, fittingly, reflects the range of linguistic and literary expertise that Professor Archibald has brought to these fields. The essays in this volume honour the distinguished career of Professor Elizabeth Archibald. They explore two areas that her scholarship has done so much to illuminate: medieval romance, and Arthurian literature. Several chapters examine individual romances, including Emaré, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Roman de Silence. Others focus on wider concerns in romances and related works in Middle English, Latin, French, German and Icelandic, from a variety of perspectives. Later chapters consider Arthurian material, with a particular emphasis on hitherto unexamined aspects of Malory's Morte Darthur. It thus, fittingly, reflects the range of linguistic and literary expertise that Professor Archibald has brought to these fields. "The essays in this volume honour the distinguished career of Professor Elizabeth Archibald. They explore two areas that her scholarship has done so much to illuminate: medieval romance, and Arthurian literature. Several chapters examine individual romances, including Emaré, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Roman de Silence. Others focus on wider concerns in romances and related works in Middle English, Latin, French, German and Icelandic, from a variety of perspectives. Later chapters consider Arthurian material, with a particular emphasis on hitherto unexamined aspects of Malory's Morte Darthur. It thus, fittingly, reflects the range of linguistic and literary expertise that Professor Archibald has brought to these fields"-- Publisher's website