Transforming Man(Kind): Genres of Collectivism in Late Medieval Literature.
- Author/Editor
- O'Brien, Sarah Elizabeth.
- Title
- Transforming Man(Kind): Genres of Collectivism in Late Medieval Literature.
- Published
- O'Brien, Sarah Elizabeth. "Transforming Man(Kind): Genres of Collectivism in Late Medieval Literature." Ph.D. Dissertation. Fordham University, 2022. iii, 148, [ii] pp. DAI-A 83/12(E). Fully accessible via link at ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (accessed July 2, 2025).
- Review
- O'Brien's abstract: "The goal of this project is to better understand the role that genre plays in the exploration of communal and individual transformation in late medieval texts. To this end, formalism is used to closely study three fourteenth-century texts: "Mirour de l'omme," by John Gower, "Piers Plowman," by William Langland, and "The Canterbury Tales," by Geoffrey Chaucer. The primary genre that is explored is that of estates satire. In addition to the genre of estates satire, this study focuses on a genre which it refers to as redemptive discourse--defined as writing which is interested in the work of achieving salvation. The three chapters track how these two genres interact with other discourses: first mirror texts, then legal discourse, and finally, genealogies of sin. These interactions are noteworthy because each casts light on the work that genre and formal textual features can do to inspire readers to seek change in themselves and in their communities" (n.p.). [MA. Copyright. John Gower Society. eJGN 44.2]
- Date
- 2022
- Gower Subjects
- Mirour de l'Omme