Speaking Two Languages: Traditional Disciplines and Contemporary Theory in Medieval Studies (S U N Y Series in Medieval Studies)

This book is designed for the medievalist interested in contemporary criticism but cautious about its limits. The volume's essays are not designed to offer rereadings of familiar texts, but to address the problems of articulating tradition and contemporary theory. Each contributor interprets critical methods as consciously chosen and spoken “languages,” and explores the consequences of combining a traditional and a contemporary method, and hence, speaking two languages. Each essay includes a critical bibliographical note pointing to further reading in the languages it employs.Allen J. Frantzen is Professor of English at Loyola University of Chicago. He is the author of The Literature of Penance in Anglo-Saxon England; King Alfred; and The Desire for Origins: New Language, Old English, and Teaching the Tradition. Speaking Two Languages Contents Acknowledgments Preface Chapter 1 Prologue: Documents and Monuments: Difference and Interdisciplinarity in the Study of Medi... Discipline and Identity Interdisciplinarity and Difference Archaeology and Deconstruction Documents and Monuments Beowulf and Sutton Hoo The City and the Village Cultural Criticism Chapter 2 On Reading Eve: Genesis B and the Readers' Desire On Reading On Reading Eve Eve meets Oedipus, or Further Reading Chapter 3 Beowulf and the Origins of Civilization Two Languages Why Beowulf? Hero to Hero The Riddle of Beowulf Further Reading Chapter 4 The Plot of Piers Plowman and the Contradictions of Feudalism 1 2 3 4 Further Reading Chapter 5 The Language of Transgression: Body, Flesh, and Word in Mystical Discourse The Fissured Flesh The Sealed Body Abjection: The Broken Seal Angela of Foligno Further Reading Chapter 6 Texts That Speak to Readers Who Hear: Old English Poetry and the Languages of Oral Traditi... Critical History Oral Traditional Structure Aesthetic Implications and Reception Theory Conclusion Further Reading Chapter 7 Working with Patristic Sources: Language and Context in Old English Homilies Research Models Canon Formation Translation and Interpretation: Attitudes and Authority Texts, Sources, and History Belief Old English Prose in the Curriculum Conclusion Further Reading Chapter 8 Medieval Textuality and the Archaeology of Textual Culture Introduction: Considering the Literary Archive Textual Archaeology: Lexicon, Gloss, Compilation, Library, Encyclopedia Writing the Oral: Textual Culture and Orality Cædmon as Glossator: The Illiteratus in the Monastic Textual Community King Alfred's Description of Compilatio Brunanburh and the Chronicle Poems: Textualization, Ideology, Nostalgia Conclusion: The Archaeology of Textual Knowledge Further Reading Chapter 9 Epilogue: De Scientia Interpretandi: Oral Tradition and the Place of Other Theories in the... The Pidgin Die Muttersprache The Languages of the Bazaar A Chapter's-End Exercise Notes Preface Chapter 1. Prologue: Documents and Monuments: Difference and Interdisciplinarity in the Study of Me... Chapter 2. On Reading Eve: Genesis B and the Readers' Desire Chapter 3. Beowulf and the Origins of Civilization Chapter 4. The Plot of Piers Plowman and the Contradictions of Feudalism Chapter 5. The Language of Transgression: Body, Flesh, and Word in Mystical Discourse Chapter 6. Texts That Speak to Readers Who Hear: Old English Poetry and the Languages of Oral Tradi... Chapter 7. Working with Patristic Sources: Language and Content in Old English Homilies Chapter 8. Medieval Textuality and the Archaeology of Textual Culture Chapter 9. Epilogue: De Scientia Interpretandi: Oral Tradition and the Place of Other Theories in t... Contributors Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W Z Edited By Allen J. Frantzen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 225-288) And Index.