Voice and Voicelessness in Medieval Europe (The New Middle Ages)

Twelve medieval scholars from a wide range of disciplines, including law, literature, and religion address the question: What did it mean to possess a voice - or to be without one - during the Middle Ages? This collection reveals how the philosophy, theology, and aesthetics of the voice inhabit some of the most canonical texts of the Middle Ages. Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Figures; Acknowledgments; List of Abbreviations; Editor's Introduction; Part I The Nature and Limits of the Human: Voice and Language; 1. Language without Voice: Locutio angelica as a Political Issue; 2. Mimicry, Subjectivity, and the Embodied Voice in Anglo-Saxon Bird Riddles; Part II The Social Body: Voice, Authority, and Community; 3. Ritual Voices and Social Silence: Funerary Lamentations in Byzantium; 4. Viva voce : Voice and Voicelessness among Twelfth-Century Clerics; 5. Abelard and Heloise between Voice and Silence Part III Rhetoric and Subjectivity: Polyphonic Voices6. The Voice of the Unrepentant Crusader: Aler m'estuet by the Châtelain d'Arras; 7. Margery's Noyse and Distributed Expressivity; 8. The Voice of the Possessed in Late Medieval French Theater; Part IV Aesthetic Experiences: Representations of Human and Divine Voices; 9. Sanz note & sanz mesure: Toward a Premodern Aesthetics of the Dirge; 10. Listening for Canor in Richard Rolle's Melos amoris; 11. Mary between Voice and Voicelessness: The Latin Meditationes of Bernard de Rosier; 12. Voice and Wisdom in Early Italian Art edited by Irit Ruth Kleiman. Cover 1 Title 9 Copyright 10 Contents 11 List of Figures 13 Acknowledgments 15 List of Abbreviations 16 Editor’s Introduction 17 Part I The Nature and Limits of the Human: Voice and Language 26 1. Language without Voice: Locutio angelica as a Political Issue 27 2. Mimicry, Subjectivity, and the Embodied Voice in Anglo-Saxon Bird Riddles 43 Part II The Social Body: Voice, Authority, and Community 58 3. Ritual Voices and Social Silence: Funerary Lamentations in Byzantium 59 4. Viva voce : Voice and Voicelessness among Twelfth-Century Clerics 76 5. Abelard and Heloise between Voice and Silence 93 Part III Rhetoric and Subjectivity: Polyphonic Voices 108 6. The Voice of the Unrepentant Crusader: “Aler m’estuet” by the Châtelain d’Arras 109 7. Margery’s “Noyse” and Distributed Expressivity 131 8. The Voice of the Possessed in Late Medieval French Theater 147 Part IV Aesthetic Experiences: Representations of Human and Divine Voices 161 9. “Sanz note” & “sanz mesure”: Toward a Premodern Aesthetics of the Dirge 162 10. Listening for Canor in Richard Rolle’s Melos amoris 183 11. Mary between Voice and Voicelessness: The Latin Meditationes of Bernard de Rosier 204 12. Voice and Wisdom in Early Italian Art 218 Bibliography 240 Contributors 262 Index 265 Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Editor’s Introduction....Pages 1-9 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Language Without Voice: Locutio Angelica as a Political Issue....Pages 13-28 Mimicry, Subjectivity, and the Embodied Voice in Anglo-Saxon Bird Riddles....Pages 29-43 Front Matter....Pages 45-45 Ritual Voices and Social Silence: Funerary Lamentations in Byzantium....Pages 47-63 Viva Voce: Voice and Voicelessness Among Twelfth-Century Clerics....Pages 65-81 Abelard and Heloise Between Voice and Silence....Pages 83-97 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 The Voice of the Unrepentant Crusader: “Aler M’Estuet” by the ChÂtelain D’Arras....Pages 101-122 Margery’s “Noyse” and Distributed Expressivity....Pages 123-138 The Voice of the Possessed in Late Medieval French Theater....Pages 139-152 Front Matter....Pages 153-153 “Sanz Note” & “Sanz Mesure”: Toward a Premodern Aesthetics of the Dirge....Pages 155-175 Listening For Canor in Richard Rolle’s Melos amoris....Pages 177-197 Mary between Voice and Voicelessness: The Latin Meditationes of Bernard de Rosier....Pages 199-212 Voice and Wisdom in Early Italian Art....Pages 213-234 Back Matter....Pages 235-264