Middle-Class Writing in Late Medieval London (The History of the Book)

Richardson, Malcolm

Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Ltd（2010/12発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 256 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781848930322
• DDC分類 820.9001

基本説明

Richardson explores how a powerful culture of writing was created in late medieval London, even though initially few inhabitants could actually write themselves. Whilst previous studies have tended to focus on middle class literary reading patterns, this study examines writing skills separately both from reading skills and (especially) from literature. Richardson treats the supposed orality-vs-literacy controversy with suspicion, and shows the late medieval middle classes accepting a writing culture with reasonable enthusiasm.

Full Description

Richardson explores how a powerful culture of writing was created in late medieval London, even though initially few inhabitants could actually write themselves. Whilst previous studies have tended to focus on middle-class literary reading patterns, this study examines writing skills separately both from reading skills and from literature.

Contents

Introduction: Pirates and Pens; Chapter 1 London Middle-Class Writing: The Institutional Bases; Chapter 2 'An Inextricable Labyrinth': The Major Genres of Civic Life; Chapter 3 English Middle-Class Writing in the Earlier Fifteenth Century: The Vernacular Letters; Chapter 4 Women's Letters and Men's Books; Chapter 5 Conclusions and Speculations;