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John Skelton and Poetic Authority

Defining the Liberty to Speak

Jane Griffiths author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:23rd Feb '06

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John Skelton and Poetic Authority cover

John Skelton and Poetic Authority is the first book-length study of Skelton for almost twenty years, and the first to trace the roots of his poetic theory to his practice as a writer and translator. It demonstrates that much of what has been found challenging in his work may be attributed to his attempt to reconcile existing views of the poet's role in society with discoveries about the writing process itself. The result is a highly idiosyncratic poetics that locates the poet's authority decisively within his own person, yet at the same time predicates his 'liberty to speak' upon the existence of an engaged, imaginative audience. Skelton is frequently treated as a maverick, but this book places his theory and practice firmly in the context of later sixteenth as well as fifteenth-century traditions. Focusing on his relations with both past and present readers, it reassess his place in the English literary canon.

...this book deserves a large audience, not only among Skelton specialists but among all those with a genuine interest in early modern English literature and culture. * Gabriela Schmidt Anglia *
Her blending of the creative and the scholarly results in a richly suggestive work. * A.S.G. Edwards, Times Literary Supplement *
takes a big stride forward: one begins to fell that we - she [Griffiths]- may at last have got him [Skelton] sorted. * Helen Cooper, London Review of Books *
This book has many strengths, not least of which are its fresh and challenging readings of a number of major poems...a valuable contribution to Skelton scholarship * Medium Aevum, LXXVI *

ISBN: 9780199273607

Dimensions: 224mm x 144mm x 20mm

Weight: 421g

226 pages