Overview
Over the course of her career, Elizabeth Robertson has pursued innovative scholarship that investigates the overlapping domains of medieval philosophy, literature, and gender studies. This collection of essays dedicated to her work examines gender in medieval English writing along several axes: poetic, philosophical, material-textual, and historical. Gender, Poetry, and the Form of Thought in Later Medieval Literature focuses on the ways that the medieval body becomes a site of inquiry and agency, whether in the form of the idealized feminine body of secular and religious lyric, the sexually permissive and permeable body of fabliaux, or the intercessory body of religious devotional writing. This collection asks, how do imagined bodies frame literary explorations of philosophical categories such as nature, the will, and emotion? What can accounts of specific historical medieval women—as authors, patrons, interlocutors—tell us about such representations? In what ways do devotional practices and texts intersect with the representations of gender? The essays span a broad range of medieval literary works, from the lais of Marie de France to Pearl to Piers Plowman and the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer, and a broad range of methodological approaches, from philosophy to affect and manuscript studies.
Full Product Details
Author: Jennifer Jahner ,
Ingrid Nelson ,
C. David Benson ,
Pamela J. Benson
Publisher: Lehigh University Press
Imprint: Lehigh University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.90cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 22.80cm
Weight: 0.576kg
ISBN: 9781611463323
ISBN 10: 1611463327
Pages: 250
Publication Date: 15 March 2022
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
While celebrating Elizabeth Robertson's long and distinguished body of scholarship, this volume affirms that debts to another's critical arguments can in the best circumstances lead to new and refreshing insights. With considerations of acrostics and ballads, and in treatments that include authors such as John Clanvowe, Margery Kempe, and Marie de France, chapters show how form enables different kinds of embodiment, and how gender conditions expectations for various genres and/or authors. For its intellectual originality and critical generosity, this volume will be a mainstay of late Middle English literary studies.--Holly A. Crocker, Faculty Leader, Humanities Collaborative
The value of Beth Robertson's work in medieval English literary studies is incalculable, as are her trailblazing impact and influence as a founding member of the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship. This collection of essays pays due homage to Robertson's formidable and broad range of scholarship and intellectual interests while also showcasing the new directions she has led others to pursue in literary forms, genres, and history. This excellent book is both a significant scholarly contribution in its own right and a worthy tribute to an extraordinary scholar and mentor.--Melissa Ridley Elmes, Lindenwood University This essay collection offers a fitting tribute to topics and passions that have animated Beth Robertson's scholarship over the course of her career, including poetic form, gender and history, material culture, embodied cognition, and the philosophical dimensions of will and consent. Covering wide-ranging topics from ethics and knowledge, to medieval debates about voluntarism, to the Wife of Bath's not-yet text, the essays in this volume expand on Robertson's work to chart future directions in Medieval Studies.--Karma Lochrie, Provost Professor of English, Core Faculty, Medieval Studies Institute While celebrating Elizabeth Robertson's long and distinguished body of scholarship, this volume affirms that debts to another's critical arguments can in the best circumstances lead to new and refreshing insights. With considerations of acrostics and ballads, and in treatments that include authors such as John Clanvowe, Margery Kempe, and Marie de France, chapters show how form enables different kinds of embodiment, and how gender conditions expectations for various genres and/or authors. For its intellectual originality and critical generosity, this volume will be a mainstay of late Middle English literary studies.--Holly A. Crocker, Faculty Leader, Humanities Collaborative
"The value of Beth Robertson's work in medieval English literary studies is incalculable, as are her trailblazing impact and influence as a founding member of the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship. This collection of essays pays due homage to Robertson's formidable and broad range of scholarship and intellectual interests while also showcasing the new directions she has led others to pursue in literary forms, genres, and history. This excellent book is both a significant scholarly contribution in its own right and a worthy tribute to an extraordinary scholar and mentor. This essay collection offers a fitting tribute to topics and passions that have animated Beth Robertson's scholarship over the course of her career, including poetic form, gender and history, material culture, embodied cognition, and the philosophical dimensions of will and consent. Covering wide-ranging topics from ethics and knowledge, to medieval debates about voluntarism, to the Wife of Bath's ""not-yet"" text, the essays in this volume expand on Robertson's work to chart future directions in Medieval Studies. While celebrating Elizabeth Robertson's long and distinguished body of scholarship, this volume affirms that debts to another's critical arguments can in the best circumstances lead to new and refreshing insights. With considerations of acrostics and ballads, and in treatments that include authors such as John Clanvowe, Margery Kempe, and Marie de France, chapters show how form enables different kinds of embodiment, and how gender conditions expectations for various genres and/or authors. For its intellectual originality and critical generosity, this volume will be a mainstay of late Middle English literary studies."
Author Information
Jennifer Jahner is professor of English at Caltech. Ingrid Nelson is associate professor of English at Amherst College.
