A Companion to the Middle English Lyric. Ed. Thomas G. Duncan

Medieval literature in general has a tendency to defy the modern desire for clearly defined boundaries and neatly structured systems, but the Middle English lyric is a particularly hard case. Overwhelmingly anonymous and scattered across a broad variety of manuscripts, the Middle English lyric comes in all shapes, though not in as many sizes: by definition, it is relatively short. To make matters worse, the Middle English lyric’s reputation has suffered from often unfounded imputations of being a ‘popular’ genre not really requiring the full attention of sophisticated scholarship. Hence, it is one of the least intensively researched genres of medieval literature in English. This is where the present volume seeks to intervene by granting the Middle English lyric at least some of the attention it deserves.

In his introduction, Thomas G. Duncan points out both the innovative aspects of the Middle English lyric (end rhyme, stanzaic form, love poetry) and its continuities with the Old English tradition, thus presenting an essentially double-faced image of the genre. He warns his readers against approaching the texts with preconceived, nineteenth-century notions of ‘originality’ or ‘individuality’ and stresses instead the role of convention as a force not merely limiting the range of expression but also provoking wit, irony and playfulness. Finally, he notes that the Middle English lyric is distinguished from its modern counterpart by its affinity to song.

Seiten 381 - 384

Zitierfähig mit Smartlink: http://www.Archivdigital.info/ARCHIV.02.2007.381

Ihr Zugang zur "ARCHIV"

• Sie sind bereits Kunde des eJournal "ARCHIV" dann melden Sie sich bitte im Kundenlogin an.
• Möchten auch Sie Kunde des eJournal "ARCHIV" werden, dann bestellen Sie Ihren Zugang noch heute.

Dieses Dokument kaufen