
The Textuality of Old English Poetry
Carol Braun Pasternack(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 20. July 1995
Book
Hardback
238 pages
978-0-521-46549-6 (ISBN)
Description
This study constructs a reading of Old English poetry which takes up issues in poststructuralist theory, including intertextuality, work versus text and the author. The modern reader knows this literature as a discrete number of poems, set up and printed in units punctuated as modern sentences and with titles inserted by modern editors. Carol Braun Pasternack offers an alternative approach which takes into account the format of the verse as it exists in the manuscripts, using the term 'inscribed' to define texts which are situated between oral inheritance and print. In a detailed examination of texts throughout the canon she explores the ways in which readers construct poems in the process of reading and in addition she extends her analysis to the question of authorship, arguing that the texts do not imply an author but rather imply tradition as the source of their authority.
Reviews / Votes
"...a significant contribution to the theoretical discussion about the nature of Old English texts. Complexity and detail of argument make it most suitable for graduate students, researches, and faculty with good knowledge of Old English." Choice "In addition to its impressively thorough analyses of Old English verbal and syntactic patterns, however, The Textuality of Old English Poetry not only suggests ways that scholars can productively use contemporary critical theory to enrich our understanding of Anglo-Saxon literature; it also points to ways that Anglo-Saxon literature can shape our ideas about such supposedly contemporary issues as authorship, textuality, and subjectivity." EnvoiMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
5 Halftones, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
543 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-46549-6 (9780521465496)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Content
List of plates; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. The textuality of Old English poetry; 2. The polyphony of The Wanderer; 3. Rhythm, repetition and traditional expression; 4. The designs of syntax, modes of thought and the author question; 5. Borders and time; 6. Conditions of coherence; Bibliography; Index.