| The Idea of Anglo-Saxon England in Middle English Romance Contributor(s): Rouse, Robert (Author) |
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ISBN: 1843840413 ISBN-13: 9781843840411 Publisher: Boydell & Brewer OUR PRICE: $90.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2005 Annotation: As the point of origin, both real and imagined, of English law and group identity, the Anglo-Saxon past was important in the construction of a post-Conquest English society that was both aware of, and placed great stock in, its Anglo-Saxon heritage; yet its depiction in post-Conquest literature has been very little studied. This book examines a wide range of sources (legal and historiographical as well as literary) in order to reveal a 'social construction' of Anglo-Saxon England that held a significant place in the literary and cultural imagination of the post-Conquest English. Using a variety of texts, but the Matter of England romances in particular, the author argues that they show a continued interest in the Anglo-Saxon past, from the localised East Sussex legend of King Alfred that underlies the twelfth-century Proverbs of Alfred, to the institutional interest in the Guy of Warwick narrative exhibited by the community of St. Swithun's Priory in Winchester during the fifteenth century; they are part of a continued cultural remembrance that encompasses chronicles, folk memories, and literature. Dr ROBERT ALLLEN ROUSE teaches in the Department of English, University of British Columbia. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Medieval - Poetry | European - English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - Literary Criticism | Medieval |
| Dewey: 821.033 |
| LCCN: 2004022269 |
| Series: Studies in Medieval Romance |
| Physical Information: 0.84" H x 6.44" W x 9.38" (1.00 lbs) 188 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Medieval (500-1453) - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: As the point of origin, both real and imagined, of English law and group identity, the Anglo-Saxon past was important in the construction of a post-Conquest English society that was both aware of, and placed great stock in, its Anglo-Saxon heritage; yet its depiction in post-Conquest literature has been very little studied. This book examines a wide range of sources [legal and historiographical as well as literary] in order to reveal a 'social construction' of Anglo-Saxon England that held a significant place in the literary and cultural imagination of the post-Conquest English. Using a variety of texts, but the Matter of England romances in particular, the author argues that they show a continued interest in the Anglo-Saxon past, from the localised East Sussex legend of King Alfred that underlies the twelfth-century Proverbs of Alfred, to the institutional interest in the Guy of Warwick narrative exhibited by the community of St. Swithun's Priory in Winchester during the fifteenth century; they are part of a continued cultural remembrance that encompasses chronicles, folk memories, and literature. Dr ROBERT ALLLEN ROUSE teaches in the Department of English, University of British Columbia. |
Contributor Bio(s): Rouse, Robert Allen: - Associate Professor, Department of English at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada |