Concise Companion to Middle English Literature

This concise companion examines contexts that are essential to
understanding and interpreting writing in English produced in the
period between approximately 1100 and 1500. The essays in the book
explore ways in which Middle English literature is 'different' from
the literature of other periods. The book includes discussion of
such issues as the religious and historical background to Middle
English literature, the circumstances and milieux in which it was
produced, its linguistic features, and the manuscripts in which it
has been preserved. Amongst the great range of writers and writings
discussed, the book considers the works of the most widely read
Middle English author, Chaucer, against the background of the
period that he both typifies and subverts.

• An accessible resource that examines contexts essential to
  understanding and interpreting writing of the Middle English
  period

• Chapters explore the distinctiveness of Middle English
  literature

• Brings together discussion and analysis by an international
  team of Middle English specialists, incorporating fresh material
  and new insights

• Includes analysis of Chaucer's writings, and considers them in
  relation to the work of his Middle English predecessors,
  contemporaries and successors

• Incorporates discussion of issues steering the perception of
  Middle English literature in the present day

Autorentext

MARILYN CORRIE teaches in the English Department at University College London. Her research interests include the trilingual literary culture of post-Norman Conquest England; the transmission of continental French literature to England in the thirteenth and early-fourteenth centuries; English and French manuscripts containing literary texts; and the interface between theology and literary writing in the Middle Ages, especially in the fifteenth century. Having published articles and essays relating to each of these subjects, she is currently working on a book about Christian theology, magic and literature in the later Middle Ages.

Zusammenfassung
This concise companion examines contexts that are essential to understanding and interpreting writing in English produced in the period between approximately 1100 and 1500. The essays in the book explore ways in which Middle English literature is 'different' from the literature of other periods. The book includes discussion of such issues as the religious and historical background to Middle English literature, the circumstances and milieux in which it was produced, its linguistic features, and the manuscripts in which it has been preserved. Amongst the great range of writers and writings discussed, the book considers the works of the most widely read Middle English author, Chaucer, against the background of the period that he both typifies and subverts.

• An accessible resource that examines contexts essential to understanding and interpreting writing of the Middle English period
• Chapters explore the distinctiveness of Middle English literature
• Brings together discussion and analysis by an international team of Middle English specialists, incorporating fresh material and new insights
• Includes analysis of Chaucer's writings, and considers them in relation to the work of his Middle English predecessors, contemporaries and successors
• Incorporates discussion of issues steering the perception of Middle English literature in the present day

Inhalt

List of Illustrations vii

List of Contributors viii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 1
Marilyn Corrie

Part I Key Contexts 7

1 Signs and Symbols 9
Barry Windeatt

2 Religious Belief 32
Marilyn Corrie

3 Women and Literature 54
Catherine Sanok

4 The Past 77
Andrew Galloway

Part II The Production of Middle English Literature 97

5 Production and Dissemination 99
Alexandra Gillespie

6 The Author 120
Jane Griffiths

Part III Writing in Middle English; Writing in England 143

7 Language 145
Jeremy J. Smith

8 Translation and Adaptation 166
Helen Cooper

9 Contemporary Events 188
Helen Barr

Part IV Middle English Literature in the Post- Medieval World 209

10 Manuscripts and Modern Editions 211
Daniel Wakelin

11 The Afterlife of Middle English Literature 232
David Matthews

Index 253