From Aesop to Reynard
Beast Literature in Medieval Britain
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:12th Nov '09
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
What do stories about animals have to tell us about human beings? This book analyzes the shrewd perceptions about human life - and especially human language - that emerge from narratives in which the main figures are 'talking animals'. Its guiding question is not 'what' but 'how' animals mean. Using this question to draw a clear distinction between beast fable and beast epic, it goes on to examine the complex variations of these forms that are to be found in the literature of medieval Britain, in English, French, Latin, and Scots. The range, variety, and brilliant inventiveness of this tradition are demonstrated in chapters on the fables of Marie de France, the Speculum stultorum of Nigel of Longchamp (the comic adventures of a donkey), the debate poem The Owl and the Nightingale, Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls and the tales of the Squire, Manciple and Nun's Priest, the Reynardian tale of The Fox and the Wolf, and the Moral Fabillis of Robert Henryson. English translations provided for all quotations make the works discussed accessible to the modern reader.
This is the book that medieval scholars have been hoping for... The command of context gives unique authority to Mann's account, and unique insight... fascinating throughout * Derek Pearsall, Archiv *
From Aesop to Reynard will be a lasting landmark for scholars of beast literature. Mann's masterly presentation of medieval texts, editing, and critical work will make this book an indispensable resource and point of reference. Complementing its immense field of reference, From Aesop to Reynard concentrates on a small set of representative works in order to foreground some of the most important questions for ongoing critical work on beast literature. * Susan Crane, Studies in the Age of Chaucer *
[a] perceptive and interesting study * Times Literary Supplement *
Its scope is broad and imaginative; its considerable learning is well digested, so that the writing is lucid, readable, and even witty; it provides a wealth of discourse that will take years for the academic community to absorb. * Andrew Breeze, Modern Language Review *
indispensable for anyone working on medieval animals or, more generally, on medieval storytelling * Karl Steel, Medium Aevum *
- Winner of Winner of Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Prize for 2011.
ISBN: 9780199217687
Dimensions: 242mm x 163mm x 28mm
Weight: 734g
394 pages