Shaping the Archive in Late Medieval England

History, Poetry, and Performance
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-107-17705-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 97, 230 Seiten, Format (B × H): 158 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 463 g

Reihe: Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature

Sarah Elliott Novacich explores how medieval thinkers pondered the ethics and pleasures of the archive. She traces three episodes of sacred history - the loss of Eden, the loading of Noah's ark, and the Harrowing of Hell - across works of poetry, performance records, and iconography in order to demonstrate how medieval artists turned to sacred history to think through aspects of cultural transmission. Performances of the loss of Eden blur the relationship between original and record; stories of Noah's ark foreground the difficulty of compiling inventories; and engagements with the Harrowing of Hell suggest the impossibility of separating the past from the present. Reading Middle English plays alongside chronicles, poetry, and works of visual art, Shaping the Archive in Late Medieval England considers how poetic form, staging logistics, and the status of performance all contribute to our understanding of the ways in which medieval thinkers imagined the archive.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Novacich, Sarah Elliott

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Model worlds; 2. Ark and archive; 3. Uxor Noe and the drowned; 4. Infernal archive; 5. The Harrowing of Hell: closure and rehearsal.

Über Autor(innen)

Novacich, Sarah Elliott
Sarah Elliott Novacich is an assistant professor at Rutgers University, New Jersey, where she specializes in medieval literature. Her research interests include poetry, drama, gender studies, and visual culture.