A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature / Edition 1

by Phillip Pulsiano, Elaine Treharne

Overview

This acclaimed volume explores and unravels the contexts, readings, genres, intertextualities and debates within Anglo-Saxon studies.

• Brings together specially-commissioned contributions from a team of leading European and American scholars.
• Embraces both the literature and the cultural background of the period.
• Combines the discussion of primary material and manuscript sources with critical analysis and readings.
• Considers the past, present and future of Anglo-Saxon studies

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780631209041
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	12/21/2001
Series:	Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture , #68
Pages:	548
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Phillip Pulsiano is late Professor of English at Villanova University. He authored numerous articles on Old and Middle English poetry and prose, and co-edited the Garland Encyclopaedia of Medieval Scandinavia (with Paul Acker and Kirsten Wolf). He had completed the first volume of The Old English Psalters (for Toronto University Press), and had undertaken significant research on Latin female saints' lives from the medieval period, and (with Joseph P. McGowan) the prose texts in the Beowulf-manuscript: work that will be published posthumously.

Elaine M. Treharne is Professor of Early English at Florida State University. She is author of The Old English Life of St Nicholas with the Old English Life of St Giles (1997), co-editor of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts and their Heritage (with Philip Pulsiano), Rewriting Old English in the Twelfth Century (with Mary Swan), and Readings in Medieval Texts (with David Johnson). She is the author of Old and Middle English: An Anthology (Blackwell, 2003) and an editor for Review of English Studies and Literature Compass. She currently works on the ideology of early English texts and their physical contexts.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Abbreviations.

Part I. Contexts and Perspectives:.

1. An Introduction to the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Vernacular English: Elaine Treharne (Florida State University) and Phillip Pulsiano (Villanova University).

2. An Introduction to the Corpus of Anglo-Latin Literature: Joseph P. McGowan (University of San Diego).

3. Transmission of Literature and Learning: Anglo Saxon Scribal Culture: Jonathan Wilcox (University of Iowa).

4. Authorship and Anonymity: Mary Swan (University of Leeds).

5. Audience(s), Reception, Literacy: Hugh Magennis (Queen’s University Belfast).

6. Anglo-Saxon Manuscript Production: Issues of Making and Using: Michelle P. Brown (British Library).

Part II. Readings: Cultural Framework and Heritage:.

7. The Germanic Background: Patrizia Lendinara (University of Palermo).

8. Religious Context: Pre-Benedictine Reform Period: Susan Irvine (University College London).

9. The Benedictine Reform and Beyond: Joyce Hill (University of Leeds).

10. Legal and Documentary Writings: Carole Hough (University of Glasgow).

11. Scientific and Medical Writings: Stephanie Hollis (University of Auckland).

12. Prayers, Glosses and Glossaries: Phillip Pulsiano (Villanova University).

Part III.Genre and Modes:.

13. Religious Prose: Roy M. Liuzza (University of Tennessee at Knoxville).

14. Religious Poetry: Patrick W. Conner (West Virginia University).

15. Secular Prose: Donald G. Scragg (University of Manchester).

16. Secular Poetry: Fred C. Robinson (Yale University).

17. Anglo-Latin Prose: Joseph P. McGowan (University of San Diego).

Part IV. Intertextualities: Sources and Influences:.

18. Biblical and Patristic Learning: Tom Hall (University of Illinois at Chicago).

19. The Irish Tradition: Charles D. Wright (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

20. Germanic Influences: Rolf Bremmer (University of Leiden).

21. Scandinavian Relations: Robert E. Bjork (Arizona State University).

Part V. Debates and Issues:.

22. English in the Post-Conquest Period: Elaine Treharne (Florida State University).

23. Anglo-Saxon Studies: Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries: Timothy Graham (University of New Mexico).

24. Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Nineteenth Century: England, Denmark, America: J. R. Hall (Notre Dame University in Indiana).

25. Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Nineteenth Century: Germany, Austria, Switzerland: Hans Sauer (LM University, Munich).

26. By the Numbers: Anglo-Saxon Scholarship at the Century's End: Allen Frantzen (Loyola University Chicago).

27. The New Millennium: Nicholas Howe (Ohio State University).

Selected Further Reading.

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The latest addition to Blackwell's comprehensive surveys of literature and culture, this volume offers an impressive array of essays by reputable scholars ... This Companion will be a valuable introduction for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and useful resource for faculty."
Choice

"A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature is an impressive anthology of erudite essays written by scholars around the world on the topic of Anglo-Saxon literature, particularly that of the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Prose, poetry, religious, and secular literature are all discussed at length in this college-level analysis and presentation, which is very highly recommended for academic literary studies in general, and medieval studies in reference collections in particular."
The Midwest Book Review

"Many of the world's leading Anglo-Saxonists have contributed to this volume which provides a very useful overview of current preoccupations of those who study and teach Old English literature."
Literature and History

"Stimulating introductions that bring out the wider potential of their topics for understanding the Anglo-Saxon past ... much to offer the more experienced reader as well as the novice."
Literature and History

Editorial Reviews

"The latest addition to Blackwell's comprehensive surveys of literature and culture, this volume offers an impressive array of essays by reputable scholars ... This Companion will be a valuable introduction for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and useful resource for faculty."
Choice

"A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature is an impressive anthology of erudite essays written by scholars around the world on the topic of Anglo-Saxon literature, particularly that of the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Prose, poetry, religious, and secular literature are all discussed at length in this college-level analysis and presentation, which is very highly recommended for academic literary studies in general, and medieval studies in reference collections in particular."
The Midwest Book Review

"Many of the world's leading Anglo-Saxonists have contributed to this volume which provides a very useful overview of current preoccupations of those who study and teach Old English literature."
Literature and History

"Stimulating introductions that bring out the wider potential of their topics for understanding the Anglo-Saxon past ... much to offer the more experienced reader as well as the novice."
Literature and History

From the Publisher