Description
How did new literatures begin in the Middle Ages and what does it mean to ask about such beginnings? These are the questions this volume pursues across the regions and languages of medieval Europe, from Iceland, Scandinavia, and Iberia through Irish, Welsh, English, French, Dutch, Occitan, German, Italian, Czech, and Croatian to Medieval Greek and the East Slavonic of early Rus. Focusing on vernacular scripted cultures and their complicated relationships with the established literary cultures of Latin, Greek, and Church Slavonic, the volume's contributors describe the processes of emergence, consolidation, and institutionalization that make it possible to speak of a literary tradition in any given language. Moreover, by concentrating on beginnings, the volume avoids the pitfalls of viewing earlier phenomena through the lens of later, national developments; the result is a heightened sense of the historical contingency of categories of language, literature, and territory in the space we call 'Europe'.
Table of Contents
Foreword Stephen G. Nichols; 1. Introduction Mark Chinca and Christopher Young; 2. Scandinavia Roberta Frank; 3. Irish and Welsh Barry Lewis; 4. English Laura Ashe; 5. Spain Marina S. Brownlee; 6. French David F. Hult; 7. Dutch Frits van Oostrom; 8. Occitan Sarah Kay; 9. German Mark Chinca and Christopher Young; 10. Italian K. P. Clarke; 11. Czech and Croatian Julia Verkholantsev; 12. Greek Panagiotis A. Agapitos; 13. East Slavonic Simon Franklin; 14. Afterword David Wallace.
