Literary Beginnings in the European Middle Ages

A ground-breaking investigation into the emergence of new written literatures in the vernacular languages of medieval Europe.

Mark Chinca (Edited by), Christopher Young (Edited by)

9781108477642, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 August 2022

330 pages
23.6 x 15.7 x 2.4 cm, 0.659 kg

'… an excellent overview of the oldest surviving vernacular texts in Europe …' Tristan Spillman, Sehepunkte (from German)

How did new literatures begin in the Middle Ages and what does it mean to ask about such beginnings? These are the questions this volume pursues across the regions and languages of medieval Europe, from Iceland, Scandinavia, and Iberia through Irish, Welsh, English, French, Dutch, Occitan, German, Italian, Czech, and Croatian to Medieval Greek and the East Slavonic of early Rus. Focusing on vernacular scripted cultures and their complicated relationships with the established literary cultures of Latin, Greek, and Church Slavonic, the volume's contributors describe the processes of emergence, consolidation, and institutionalization that make it possible to speak of a literary tradition in any given language. Moreover, by concentrating on beginnings, the volume avoids the pitfalls of viewing earlier phenomena through the lens of later, national developments; the result is a heightened sense of the historical contingency of categories of language, literature, and territory in the space we call 'Europe'.

Foreword Stephen G. Nichols
1. Introduction Mark Chinca and Christopher Young
2. Scandinavia Roberta Frank
3. Irish and Welsh Barry Lewis
4. English Laura Ashe
5. Spain Marina S. Brownlee
6. French David F. Hult
7. Dutch Frits van Oostrom
8. Occitan Sarah Kay
9. German Mark Chinca and Christopher Young
10. Italian K. P. Clarke
11. Czech and Croatian Julia Verkholantsev
12. Greek Panagiotis A. Agapitos
13. East Slavonic Simon Franklin
14. Afterword David Wallace.

Subject Areas: Medieval history [HBLC1], European history [HBJD], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]