Old English Poetics : The Aesthetics of the Familiar in Anglo-Saxon England

A new approach to the study of Old English Poetry, featuring close reading of the text, its form and style. Traditions are created and maintained by groups of people living in specific times and places: they do not have a life of their own. In this radical new approach to Old English poetics, the author argues that the apparent timelessness and stability of Old English poetic convention is a striking historical phenomenon that must be accounted for, not assumed, and that the perceived conservatism of Old English poetic conventions is the result of choice. Successive generations of poets deliberately maintained the traditionality of Old English poetry, putting it into dialogue with contemporary conditions to express critique and dissent as well as nostalgia. The author makes particular use of the rich language of treasure to be found in Anglo-Saxon verse to historicise her argument, but her argument has wide implications for how we approach the role of tradition in the poetry of earlier societies. Dr ELIZABETH TYLER teaches in the Department of English and the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York The Form And Style Of Old English Poetry, Which Remained Highly Stable From The Fifth To The Eleventh Centuries, Confront The Modern Reader With Several Very Basic Critical Challenges. Its Deep Conventionality Is At Odds With Modern Aesthetic Values And Notions Of Authorship. Moreover, The Style Of Old English Poetry Resists Historicization - A Particular Problem In A Critical Environment Increasingly Engaged With The Ideological Significance Of Texts Situated In Specific Historical Contexts. This Study Addresses These Challenges In Order To Offer An Historicized Approach To Old English Poetics, Paying Particular Attention To Its Use Of Formulas And Verbal Repetition Via A Close Analysis Of The Rich Language Of Treasure To Be Found In Old English Verse. Rather Than Representing Poets As Conduits Of Tradition, Old English Poetics Conceptualizes Poets As A Activity Controlling And Maintaining Poetic Convention.--book Jacket. Treasure And Old English Verse -- The Collocation Of Words For Treasure In Old English Verse -- Formulas And The Aesthetics Of The Familiar -- Verbal Repetition And The Aesthetics Of The Familiar -- Poetics And The Past: Traditional Style At The Turn Of The Millennium. Elizabeth M. Tyler. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 173-183) And Indexes. Traditions are created and maintained by groups of people living in specific times and places: they do not have a life of their own. In this radical new approach to Old English poetics, the author argues that the apparent timelessness and stability of Old English poetic convention is a striking historical phenomenon that must be accounted for, not assumed, and that the perceived conservatism of Old English poetic conventions is the result of choice. Successive generations of poets deliberately maintained the traditionality of Old English poetry, putting it into dialogue with contemporary conditions to express critique and dissent as well as nostalgia. The author makes particularuse of the rich language of treasure to be found in Anglo-Saxon verse to historicise her argument, but her argument has wide implications for how we approach the role of tradition in the poetry of earlier societies.

DrELIZABETH TYLER teaches in the Department of English and the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. CONTENTS......Page 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 10 ABBREVIATIONS......Page 12 A NOTE ON TRANSLATION......Page 16 LIST OF COLLOCATIONS AND A NOTE ON CROSS REFERENCING......Page 17 INTRODUCTION......Page 18 1. Treasure and Old English Verse......Page 26 2. The Collocation of Words for Treasure in Old English Verse......Page 55 3. Formulas and the Aesthetics of the Familiar......Page 118 4. Verbal Repetition and the Aesthetics of the Familiar......Page 140 5. Poetics and the Past: Traditional Style at the Turn of the First Millennium......Page 174 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 190 INDEX OF WORDS......Page 202 INDEX OF POEMS......Page 204 INDEX OF MODERN SCHOLARS......Page 205 GENERAL INDEX......Page 207