To define the scope of this book is in one sense straightforward: the essays printed here offer critical readings of a range of poetry written in English between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, with the exception of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. These essays represent some of the developments in medieval studies over the last fifteen or twenty years. The concerns of this volume are very firmly clustered around literary criticism and critical methodology, and the ways in which medieval literary studies borrows from and contributes to the theory and practice of literary criticism in the 90s.
To define the scope of this book is in one sense straightforward: the essays printed here offer critical readings of a range of poetry written in English between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, with the exception of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. These essays represent some of the developments in medieval studies over the last fifteen or twenty years. The concerns of this volume are very firmly clustered around literary criticism and critical methodology, and the ways in which medieval literary studies borrows from and contributes to the theory and practice of literary criticism in the 90s.