Medievalism's Inheritance: Early Inventions of Medieval Pasts
- Author/Editor
- Peebles, Katie Lyn
- Title
- Medievalism's Inheritance: Early Inventions of Medieval Pasts
- Published
- Peebles, Katie Lyn. Medievalism's Inheritance: Early Inventions of Medieval Pasts. Ph.D. Dissertation. Indiana University, 2010. ix, 309 pp. Dissertation Abstracts International A71.08. Fully accessible via ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.
- Review
- "This dissertation examines how and why medievalism--the use of elements from the European Middle Ages in social commentary--began in the Middle Ages itself. . . . Each chapter focuses on an author experiencing political crisis: William of Malmesbury (c.1095-c.1143), John Gower (c.1330-1408), Sir Thomas Malory (c.1405-1471), and John Aubrey (1626-1697). These writers constructed medieval heritages out of available historical fragments, narratives, and their own dreams in order to resolve contemporary issues. . . . The basic process of 'medieval' medievalism is the same as the process that has been established in post-medieval periods: to make the past instrumental in cultural debates, these writers compared the terms of the chosen medieval period to the immediate concerns of the present. However, early medievalism is more weighted to a search for continuity and metaphorical constructions of cultural heritage in order to naturalize certain kinds of violence and mitigate losses of the past. William of Malmesbury and John Gower make lessons from the past obvious in attempts to secure a more peaceful future. Both Malory and Caxton were concerned with asserting a stable transmission of heritage that could transcend cycles of violence and limits of the book marketplace. Aubrey's use of medievalism in early modern scientific historical projects set a pattern for the continued intimacy of heritage and folklore studies, and of medievalism and medieval studies" (vi-vii). Peebles summarizes her discussion of Gower as follows: "the second chapter addresses John Gower‘s attempt to rescue and revitalize certain British traditions of rulership, particularly the proper relationship of a king to his people. The tone of Gower‘s medievalism veers between fear in the 'Vox Clamantis,' wistfulness in the Tale of Three Questions [from Confessio Amantis, and optimism in some of the late Latin poems. I argue that the tension in Gower‘s medievalism, which transformed his experiences of surviving the Black Death, the Peasants‘ Revolt, and the usurpation of Richard II into fearful visions and hopeful dreams of virtuous reform, comes from a dialectic of kings and subjects in which women are best positioned to lead to reconciliation through wise counsel" (15).
- Date
- 2010
- Gower Subjects
- Backgrounds and General Criticism
Vox Clamantis
Confessio Amantis
Minor Latin Poetry