
The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature
Volume 1: 800-1558
Rita Copeland(Editor)
Oxford University Press
Published on 11. February 2016
Book
Hardback
776 pages
978-0-19-958723-0 (ISBN)
Description
The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature (OHCREL) is designed to offer a comprehensive investigation of the numerous and diverse ways in which literary texts of the classical world have stimulated responses and refashioning by English writers. Covering the full range of English literature from the early Middle Ages to the present day, OHCREL both synthesizes existing scholarship and presents cutting-edge new research,
employing an international team of expert contributors for each of the five volumes.
OHCREL endeavours to interrogate, rather than inertly reiterate, conventional assumptions about literary 'periods', the processes of canon-formation, and the relations between literary and non-literary discourse. It conceives of 'reception' as a complex process of dialogic exchange and, rather than offering large cultural generalizations, it engages in close critical analysis of literary texts. It explores in detail the ways in which English writers' engagement with classical
literature casts as much light on the classical originals as it does on the English writers' own cultural context.
This first volume, and fourth to appear in the series, covers the years c.800-1558, and surveys the reception and transformation of classical literary culture in England from the Anglo-Saxon period up to the Henrician era. Chapters on the classics in the medieval curriculum, the trivium and quadrivium, medieval libraries, and medieval mythography provide context for medieval reception. The reception of specific classical authors and traditions is represented in chapters on Virgil,
Ovid, Lucan, Statius, the matter of Troy, Boethius, moral philosophy, historiography, biblical epics, English learning in the twelfth century, and the role of antiquity in medieval alliterative poetry. The medieval section includes coverage of Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate, while the part of the volume dedicated to
the later period explores early English humanism, humanist education, and libraries in the Henrician era, and includes chapters that focus on the classicism of Skelton, Douglas, Wyatt, and Surrey.
employing an international team of expert contributors for each of the five volumes.
OHCREL endeavours to interrogate, rather than inertly reiterate, conventional assumptions about literary 'periods', the processes of canon-formation, and the relations between literary and non-literary discourse. It conceives of 'reception' as a complex process of dialogic exchange and, rather than offering large cultural generalizations, it engages in close critical analysis of literary texts. It explores in detail the ways in which English writers' engagement with classical
literature casts as much light on the classical originals as it does on the English writers' own cultural context.
This first volume, and fourth to appear in the series, covers the years c.800-1558, and surveys the reception and transformation of classical literary culture in England from the Anglo-Saxon period up to the Henrician era. Chapters on the classics in the medieval curriculum, the trivium and quadrivium, medieval libraries, and medieval mythography provide context for medieval reception. The reception of specific classical authors and traditions is represented in chapters on Virgil,
Ovid, Lucan, Statius, the matter of Troy, Boethius, moral philosophy, historiography, biblical epics, English learning in the twelfth century, and the role of antiquity in medieval alliterative poetry. The medieval section includes coverage of Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate, while the part of the volume dedicated to
the later period explores early English humanism, humanist education, and libraries in the Henrician era, and includes chapters that focus on the classicism of Skelton, Douglas, Wyatt, and Surrey.
Reviews / Votes
Although targeting medievalists and students of English literature, the discussions concerning transmission and reception are valuable to anyone interested in how English literature adapted and engaged with classical literature. * Kathleen Burt, Classical Journal Online * Volume 1 (800-1558) is the most ambitious to date, aiming for coverage of the classics' impact over a period of some 760 years. * G. Divary, CHOICE *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 46 mm
Weight
1225 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-958723-0 (9780199587230)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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05/2020
Oxford University Press
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01/2016
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E-Book
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OUP eBook
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Person
Rita Copeland is Rosenberg Chair in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. Her fields of research include the history of rhetoric, literary theory, and medieval learning. She is a founder of the journal New Medieval Literatures, and co-founder of Toronto Series in Medieval and Early Modern Rhetoric. In addition to many articles, she has published the following books: Rhetoric,
Hermeneutics, and Translation in the Middle Ages (1991), Criticism and Dissent in the Middle Ages (1996), Pedagogy, Intellectuals and Dissent in the Later Middle Ages (2001), Medieval Grammar and Rhetoric: Language Arts and Literary Theory, AD 300-1475 (with Ineke Sluiter) (2009), and The Cambridge Companion to Allegory (with
Peter Struck) (2010).
Hermeneutics, and Translation in the Middle Ages (1991), Criticism and Dissent in the Middle Ages (1996), Pedagogy, Intellectuals and Dissent in the Later Middle Ages (2001), Medieval Grammar and Rhetoric: Language Arts and Literary Theory, AD 300-1475 (with Ineke Sluiter) (2009), and The Cambridge Companion to Allegory (with
Peter Struck) (2010).
Editor
Rosenberg Chair in the Humanities and Professor of Classical Studies, English, and Comparative LiteratureRosenberg Chair in the Humanities and Professor of Classical Studies, English, and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania
Content
List of Contributors ; Abbreviations ; 1. Introduction ; 2. The Curricular Classics in the Middle Ages ; 3. Experiencing the Classics in Medieval Education ; 4. The Trivium and the Classics ; 5. The Quadrivium and Natural Sciences ; 6. The Transmission and Circulation of Classical Literature: Libraries and Florilegia ; 7. Mythography and Mythographical Collections ; 8. Academic Prologues to Authors ; 9. Virgil ; 10. Ovid and Ovidianism ; 11. Lucan ; 12. Statius ; 13. Trojan Itineraries and the Matter of Troy ; 14. Boethius' De consolatione philosophiae ; 15. Moral Philosophy and Wisdom Literature ; 16. Historiography and Biography from the Period of Gildas to Gerald of Wales ; 17. Prudentius and the Late Classical Epics of Juvencus, Proba, Sedulius, Arator and Avitus ; 18. John of Salisbury, Academic Scepticism, and Ciceronian Rhetoric ; 19. Alliterative Poetry and the Time of Antiquity ; 20. Other Worlds: Chaucer's Classicism ; 21. Gower's Ovids ; 22. John Lydgate and the Remaking of Classical Epic ; 23. Early Humanism in England ; 24. Survey of Henrician Humanism ; 25. John Skelton ; 26. Gavin Douglas' Eneados ; 27. Finding a Vernacular Voice: The Classical Translations of Sir Thomas Wyatt ; 28. The Aeneid Translations of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey: The Exiled Reader's Presence ; Select Bibliography of Ancient Sources ; General Reference Works for Reception ; Studies on Ancient Authors and Classical Reception ; Medieval: Primary Sources ; Medieval: Secondary Sources ; Early Humanism: Primary Sources ; Early Humanism: Secondary Sources